Adventures of a Warrior
by Shikotei
Summary: Shikotei goes on adventure to become a great warrior. His father was murdered long ago, but now his killer is after Shikotei! This is the story about how Shikotei fought against the Smoker's leader: Sora!
1. Over The Hills And Far Away

We all know of the existence of the solar system…and we know we all live on a planet called Earth... but what you don't know, that there is a world parallel to our Earth. A magic world, where warriors fight bravely, where bowmen fire arrows with pinpoint accuracy and where thieves who move unseen and swiftly over the world. Magicians are not a common sight in that world, because it has to be in your blood to master the art of wizardry. The planet itself was all water except for a few main islands. Victoria was the biggest of them all, a green lush island with forests in the East, deep jungles of adventure in the West. There were great wastelands in the North and big plains of green grass that stretch for miles. In the center of this island there was a humongous tree with branches that stretch for hundreds of meters and a base that was hollow where someone had built a hotel.

Close to the hotel, named the Sleepywood Hotel, was a cave that leads to the deep inner parts of the island.

The island had only a few cities, each in a quadrant of the island: Ellinia in the East, a town built around the hundred-meter high trees; Perion in the North, living from hunted beasts, because there are no trees in the dry land; Henesys in the South, where the people live off the land; Kerning City in the West, the modernized city on the island. There is also a harbor, named Lith Harbor, where people go to get a ride to the other islands.

My role in all this is just small, but I'll tell you anyway:

My mother was a sweet mother, who wanted the best for me. She took care of me when my faster perished when I was 2 years old.

I lived in the town of the South: Henesys.

When I reached the age of 12, my mother told me about my father and when she was talking about him, telling me about his adventures as a skillful warrior, I wanted to become like him and asked my mother if it was okay to travel to one of the main cities to start my training. She told me that my father had trained at Perion and that she wanted to help me as good as she could to make sure I was okay.

Two weeks later I set off to Perion, waved out by my mother who was, at that moment, very proud of me.

Now, before I tell you how I got to Perion, I've got to tell you something about how you survive in this world.

The way of life as you know it, is a safe world: no monsters of evil beasts that can attack you. In my world, you can be attacked my all sorts of monsters, strong and weak, fast and slow, huge and tiny.

And they don't hatch out of an egg, or be born by nature. No, they sort of just pop out of nowhere every time one dies. As far as we humans know it has something to do with the cave in the center of the island. If you ask "What about money, do you have something like that?", then I say we do, but we don't know how it can be true, but when a monster dies, a bag of money can be found on its carcass. The amount is depending on the strength of the monster and how many people it has killed. It is a weird system if you're used to the way it goes on you world.

Now that you know this, I can continue my story:

When I left my home, I had practiced with my sword. It wasn't a very good one, but it was all I could wield at that time. My clothes were like yours: a simple shirt and jeans.

Outside of the town boundaries, I felt like I had left everything behind me and started a new life. Unaware of how dangerous my new life was going to be, I set off to Ellinia because I felt like meeting magicians who I had never seen.

After hours of wandering through fields, I entered the outer boundaries of the Western forest, where I saw an Iron Hog. I quickly hid myself behind a tree, hoping the Hog hadn't noticed me. When I looked where it had gone, it wasn't there anymore. Thinking I had hid myself fast enough, I continued my journey.

Suddenly I heard a sound from the bushes left of me, so I focused on what may have caused it. Then a Hog walked out and I quickly turned around, ready to make a run for it. But I never got the chance, because something really hard had hit me with such a force, that I just blacked out of the pain.

When I opened my eyes again, it was close to nightfall and as my eyes got used to the weakening sunlight, I saw a whole pack of Hogs. I stood up and wanted to sneak away, but only a few feet later I bumped into some sort of cage. I now realized they had put me in it.

"If you're looking for a way out, don't mind, there isn't one." I heard someone say. "Who are you and where are you?" I said as I looked around me. "Down here, fella," he said and I sat next to him.

When I looked at his face, I saw it was quite banged up and I told him that. He replied: "Heh, yeah I put up a good fight before they overpowered me. When their backup arrived, they were outnumbering me too far and captured me.

Me- "Wow, you must be strong! What sword do you use?"

Him- "Sword! Hahaha, sorry kid, but I use a bow..."

Then he pointed at something near the pack of Hogs and said: "See that yellow-green thing over there? That's my bow: the Ryden bow."

"Damn, if only I could get out of here..." And he stared at the distant bow.

Him- "I'm Korban by the way, what's your name?"

Me- "I'm Shikotei, but everyone just calls me Shik."

Korban- "Looking at your clothes, I don't think you have any combat experience. What's your age Shik? And why are you here?"

I told Korban my age and that I was on my way to Perion via Ellinia.

"Well I'll help you to get to Perion, because I think you wouldn't get far on your own." I said that I really appreciated that and thanked him, but he said that had to get out of here first. So we both looked at what the Hogs were saying to each other.

Hog 1: "Let's eat the little one first and squash the other!"

Hog 2: "No you fool, we got to wait for the Lupins so we can save our strength, that big guy is tough."

3rd Hog: "No way Guss, we caught those two and we're gonna eat them too!"

Another Hog said: "Then I want a bigger piece of the little one, I rammed him."

"SILENCE you FOOLS!" A really huge Hog said, "It was my idea, so I get my rewards."

The first Hog then said: "Seems we need a new boss: ME!" and rammed the big one. All the other Hogs now wanted to be the new boss and started to fight each other, ramming, biting their rivals.

After a few seconds had passed, a Hog came towards us, probably to destroy the cage and have us for dinner. It did manage to rip a hole in the cage, but got rammed by another Hog, that then ran after the first Hog.

"This is our chance," said Korban, "we got to get outta here now!" And he grabbed my arm and we ran away from the fight. Korban stopped running, said something about his bow and ran back to the fighting Hogs. I ran to the nearest tree and hid myself while watching Korban grab his bow and dodging the Hogs flying about, getting rammed and scratched. "Follow me, I know a good spot to spend the night." he said while running past me. He seemed to know exactly where to go, but I had no idea where we were going to.

"Here we are, come." He said and just climbed up in the middle of the air. "What the... how do you do that!" I said. "Oh yeah... ehm... just give me your hand and I'll pull you up." As he pulled me up he told me that I was in an air hut. That's a magic hut which was a floating wooden hut with invisible walls and roof. "These were made centuries ago by one of the most powerful person of that time... Who and how remain mysteries."

"Here, eat this, it'll still your hunger. Now go to sleep, we are safe in here. Tomorrow, I'll take you to Ellinia, where you'll meet loads of Mages." That last bit he said with a touch of anger... why? I wouldn't know until tomorrow…


	2. Forests Of Ellinia 1

The new day started early, because Korban woke me up when the sun was still behind the horizon. "Sorry to wake you so early, but if you want to avoid those Hogs, we need to travel early." I nodded, stood up and wanted to eat something from my backpack, but in the chaos of last night, I forgot to take it with me. Korban noticed and said "The Hogs took your bag and turned it inside-out, eating everything they thought was edible when you were unconscious." I was looking very sad, with my head down and arms useless on the ground. "But don't worry," he said as he looked at me, "We're an hour's walk away from the outer bounds of Ellinia's forests. The trees there grow fruits that we can eat as breakfast." and gave me a smile. I returned the smile and said: "Let's go then! I'm hungry."

After we walked in silence towards the forest for a while, I started a conversation: "You seem to know a thing or two about this place, like the hidden hut we slept in and the fruits in the forest." He smiled again and then told me he was an adventurer for some time now. He left his home about 7 years ago, at the age of 16. He had a fight with his parents, who didn't want him to become a bowman. "When I had enough of that crap, I just took all my money and a few clothes and set of in the middle of the night." and chuckled. Then he continued: "You can't imagine how it's like to have such dull parents, who won't let you do anything fun." I answered with "My mom isn't like that at all. My dad was a great adventurer, who had made great journeys until he met her. They settled in Henesys, where I was born, but my dad had made enemies too. One night they had decided to come to our home and take him by surprise." I was close to tears and Korban patted me on my back: "There there... it's alright." I continued: "My mom told me that the ones who k-k-killed my dad did get punished by half the world!"

Korban then asked my dad's name, but I didn't know it, telling Korban that my mom would tell me when I was ready. "I sure hope my dad wasn't a bad person.."

Korban quickly responded, saying that if half the world was after them, my dad must've been a good guy. Knowing this made me smile, so I wiped my tears away and looked at Korban. His face wasn't smiling though, but deeply frowned. "What's on your mind Korban? Did we get lost?"

"Huh, what?" He blinked his eyes and looked at me in a strange way. "No, we're still on the right road, don't worry. I was just trying to remember something."

After he said that we didn't speak to each other, but just sort of wandered towards Ellinia. The sun still stood low in the cloudy sky when I saw something doom up in front of us: the forest! "YAY! We're nearly there!" I shouted in joy and ran towards the woods, where I sat down and waited for Korban to tell me what kind of fruits we were going to eat. Clouds now covered the sun up when Korban sat down next to me. Soon after, rain started to pour down: First light and refreshing, then heavy. The rain had made the grass all wet and made squishy sounds when Korban and I ran over it into the forest.

Although the roof of leaves of the woods was thick, rain could drip through, making the ground in the forest slippery. After a few minutes Korban stood to a hold and took different shoes out of a sort of sack. The sack itself was not bigger than two clenched fists over each other, but the shoes were bigger than that. He said "I'm putting on these snowshoes so I won't slip this much. You should do the same, Shik." "Err.. I ehm.. don't have such a sack like that one and my backpack was taken by the Hogs, remember? Don't you have a second pair in there somewhere?" I replied with sadness. He then told me that he had only one pair and that I should really watch my step from now on. "Why would I? I'm already soaking wet from the rain."

"This is serious, Shik! Ellinia isn't built on the ground, but high up in the trees. If you'd slip and fall there, there's not much chance that you survive. I know you haven't been there before, but it's really high: falling from that height can kill you."

"Wow.. I didn't know that. I sure don't want to die in my first week from home." I reassured Korban, who then said: "Right, now that I've told you that we can find the fruits for breakfast, I'm starving!" Ten mere minutes later Korban and I had gathered loads of fruits and berries, so we sat down under a huge mushroom that grew out the side of an even bigger tree.

The berries were very tasty, being all sweet and soft from inside. Soon the berries were all gone and we started eating the fruits. They were slightly sour, but filled the stomach better. After that our hunger had been stilled and it was time to continue the journey. We climbed all the way up, but I saw strange holes in the tree and drew Korban's attention by pulling his shirt and asked "What are those holes in the trees? What could make such a big hole?" "I can't tell you what made them, but if you want to I can show you what's inside. Be careful okay?" he replied and jumped down towards the nearest hole: "Okay, now jump, I'll catch you." So I jumped and we went in the hole.

The inside was beautiful, with huge blue and green mushrooms that were like platforms, growing out the walls, varying from two to seven feet wide. In the center however, was a gas so big I could fall all the way down. I looked up and saw something moving and I wanted to know what it was. I looked at Korban, who was outside, looking where to go and he didn't look like being in a hurry, so I concentrated on the figure I had seen. As I was looking I saw mushrooms as big as I was walking on the platforms; some even jumped down. Then, when I wanted to walk back outside, three blue-spiky-capped mushrooms jumped on my platform and blocked the way. "Korban, help me! Some mushrooms are blocking the way out!" I shouted and he came rushing towards me. Two mushrooms turned around and fought with Korban, while the other one came after me. I unsheathed my sword and tried to keep it away from me, but it came closer and closer as I went further and further backwards. Korban now had defeated one mushroom and jumped over the other one and was running towards the mushroom that had made me go all the way to the edge of the platform. Then one last swing from its arms made me take another step, but half my foot didn't have any ground to stand on and I lost my balance. "Korban?" I said scared.

Korban kicked the mushroom out of his way and grabbed for my arms, but all he got hold of, was air.

"Kooorrbaaaaaan!"


	3. Forests Of Ellinia 2

NOTE: This is seen from Korban's point of view.

The first thing that came across my mind was to jump down and try to put Shik out of his free fall in the center of tree. So I jumped down and stretched my body, so I'd fall like a spear so fast towards him. All I could think of on how to get him out of the center was to kick him away: a painful thought, but it was the only way. I grabbed his sword hoping to use it to slow me down of my own fall, then I kicked him out of the center. He fell against the side of tree, then onto a plateau.

Now I had to save myself. Because I had kicked Shik, I fell the other way towards the side. I cut the sword in it and carved a ten-foot line in it.

When I got back up to Shik, I said: "Shik, you okay, kid?" All he could say was "K-Korban? I-I-I knew... you'd s-save me. I-I'm so co-cold", before passing out. I knew he had just passed out, because he was still breathing.

The bushes he fell on looked like they broke his fall a lot, but when I checked em out from close by I thought: "Shit, these are poisonous Omens! I gotta act quickly or he'll not make it."

I took Shik on my back, being glad that he was just a kid and didn't weigh that much. I took him to Ellinia as fast as I could, knowing that every minute counted.

The only thing I can remember about how I got to Ellinia that day is that a dozen slimes were blocking my way. Of course I didn't have the time to fight them and ran over them.

With some slimy stuff on my shoes, I didn't waste any time and jumped my way up half the city, to where the healing shop was. I barged in and looked around for Len, the owner. I said to her, slightly panicked: "Can you please help my friend? We were just having fun and suddenly he.. j.. just s.. we were.." "Calm down lad, now.. What's wrong with your friend?" she said. I told her about the Omens. "Good of ya to bring him here fast; there aren't many people who know the remedy against those pesky bushes. Can you wait here?" and she took Shikotei into a room in the back and closed the door.

Time passed by, but the door remained closed...

After what felt like an hour, the door finally opened, but only Len stepped out, looking very tired. "And..?" I asked her. A short moment she looked at me and began to smile: "He'll survive it, but he won't wake up for at least a day or two. You can see him now and stay here for the night if you wish." I was so happy that I cried tears of joy. Len's attention was suddenly needed for a wrongly placed potion.

I wiped my tears away and thanked her from the bottom of my heart and went to see my friend.

I opened my eyes and saw a village... it was built around a colossal tree with roots as big as a house, a base so tremendously wide, it would take ten minutes to walk around it. But it was deserted, the entire village was empty. Then a snake-like creature came, with only its tail on the ground, then another one, then a horde of them came towards the tree. They had armors and helmets of steel, with bows, axes and swords in their hands. Some even carried wands and staffs. Suddenly they all stopped moving and I heard a snake shout "FOR MADAE!" Now they all looked at the colossal tree and began chopping and slicing it down. With all those snakes, hacking, slashing and casting destructive spells, the tree was not hard to cut down but... it fell into my direction! I couldn't move, my legs wouldn't budge... I just stood there gazing at the creaking tree, slowly falling down. I closed my eyes when it was about to hit me.

The pain I expected did not come so I slowly opened my eyes and found myself in a strange bed. I sat up straight and looked around and I saw my clothes neatly folded lying beside me on a chair. I got out of bed, dressed myself and thought about the dream I had... or was it a vision? I sure hoped it wasn't.

Someone opened the door, looked surprised and said "Well well, so you're awake at last? You slept for two days, kiddo."

"W-who are you, and where am I?" I asked her. She then told me her name was Len and that this was Ellinia. To my great joy she also said that Korban had taken me here after I fell in poisonous bushes. I then asked her where he had gone, but Len didn't really know: "He said he needed to see someone and that he'd be back in three days or so. He'll be glad when he sees you awaken." and she smiled.

"Can I go out yet? I want to see what this town is like." I asked her. I really couldn't wait any longer to go out and check Ellinia.

"I think it's okay, but you gotta stay on the paths. Ya don't wanna fall again do you?"

I reassured her of that and walked out the door and the healing shop I had spent the past two days.

It was not until nightfall that I returned to the shop Len owned. When the night did come, the town was illuminated by hundreds of light bulbs, glowing softly in the dark. I knocked on the door or Len's place; she opened, smiled and let me in.

There was Korban, sitting at a table sipping tea. As I walked in, he looked up and began to smile.

"Welcome back! You feel alright now?" he said. My reply came fast, saying I felt 100 and that I had spent the day hanging around town.

"Did you like Ellinia kid?" Len asked me, "I'll go get you some tea, so sit down next to your friend there."

A little later we were talking about what I did in town, the weather and other things that were going on in the world.

"So... where are you laddies going to tomorrow?" Len wanted to know. "We're gonna go to Perion, so I can get training for warriors. I'm all excited about what I will learn there" I said to her. Then I had to yawn big-time, which was the signal for me to go to bed. "I'd better go to bed now. Thanks for your hospitality, Len." "Yeah.. me too." Korban said too, "Early start tomorrow!"

Once I laid down on the bed and my head touched the cushions, I fell asleep, for it had been a long day.


	4. Perion

The sun stood high in the sky, which had few clouds in it. Korban and I had just left the forest and stood at the foot of a steep mountain range. Korban had told me that on the other side of those mountains, laid the barren plains of Perion.

"How is that possible, one side very lush, but the other barren? How can that be, Korban?" I said.

"That's nature kid. The rain falls on this side because high on the mountains, the cold air makes the clouds rain. Thus very little rain falls on the other side, making that side very dry and barren." I got as answer on my question.

"We will not go all the way up the mountains, but rather use one of the passes through the lower parts of the mountain. This is shorter and easier to walk for us." Korban had said when I asked how we were going to go over the mountains.

So we walked towards the north, looking for one of those passes. After a few minutes I saw a gap between two tops of the mountains and notified Korban. "Yes, that's the pass we're going to take! Good job Shik. Now let's go, we got a long way ahead of us."

The pass I had spotted brought us straight through the mountains. I didn't see any snow, but I think I should be glad about that; I did not have the proper clothing for a winter trip through ice cold snow. I just had my blue jeans and my blue-lined white shirt. Not what you'd call winter clothing, right?

Anyway, as we walked the pass, it was deadly silent, because I did not hear any birds or water. All I heard was the wind blowing through the trees and over my head. The path before us was well-marked, as if this pass is heavily used. All it did was giving me the shivers all over my back, but it didn't do anything to Korban: he just walked there happy and cheerful.

"How come you aren't worried about the silence? It's giving me the shivers." I asked him

Korban replied full of joy: "Oh you should know why I'm this joyful here. Even though it's silent and windy, I'm feeling at home in the open air. You see, when I ran away from my parents, I made these mountains my home, spending over 10 years in them, I know them inside out. I've seen every tree and every stream, I have walked every hill."

"Wow... you must've been lonely here.. when you spent that much time in here." I said with awe.

"Well, no. You see, I never had many friends, I even think I never even had a real friend. I just never missed anybody and the silence was a peaceful silence to me.

You're the first real friend I've got since that time, 'cos all the others were like just following me wherever I went to and talked to me. I had that kind of friends for a long time, until they found someone stronger than me and started naggin' _him_." He explained to me.

Again silence fell between us as we walked the pass until I asked if Korban had a remedy against this coldness of the pass. As a result he gave me some sort of reddish soup. How he got it and how he kept it so hot I didn't ask him, but as soon as I had taken a sip from it, the cold was simple slipping away and made room for a welcome, warm feeling throughout my body. I thanked him and we continued our journey.

As surprised as I was when I ate the soup, so did the pass end and it ended in an extremely hot and dry land. Everywhere I looked I saw nothing but steep rocks, rolling dust, dry sand and a scorching sun.

"Welcome to the Western Plains of Perion, the driest, hottest and most unfriendly plains you'll probably ever see." Korban stated. "You can say that again... this place sure is hot and dry. Did we bring enough water to get to Perion?" I asked Korban, who then asked me if I had forgotten his Bag of Holding. "Of course! I bet you just need a tiny stream, put your bag in it and fill it up!" and excited me said.

"Well, I already filled it up, so let's just walk, or run or whatever you want to do and let's get you to Perion to start your training."

"Oh yeah, I wonder what sort of powerful and cool-looking skills and style I can learn."

"I dunno... I just learned how to use a bow pretty good..."Korban shrugged, "I still have to increase my accuracy and speed with it. Hopefully, I can ask my mistress to teach me more powerful skills when I can fire faster and aim better than I now can."

"I've heard about a few people using a bow to fire some sort of everlasting arrow. But nobody ever saw an Everlast Arrow.. maybe it's a skill you can learn Korban!" I encouraged Korban, because he didn't look like he wanted to do all that just to get some weird skill he might not even need.

"That's a good skill! I'm gonna need that one, cos I hate having to go search for arrows on the beasts I have defeated. Sometimes the shaft is broken, or the tip is missing and I have to go to town to make new ones. Uughh, I hate to do that." Korban said and got the shivers.

"I just hope I can do some cool moves, swing a huge sword around that scares my enemies so I can take them down before they know it." I sniggered and started to made weird moves with an imaginary sword.

"I overheard someone say a thing or two about how to become a swordsman. First there is the choice of weapon, like the spear or pole-arm, or axe or sword. Then you have to choose between a two-handed weapon, or a one-handed with a shield; of course you don't have that choice when you already wanted to use a spear or pole-arm." Korban smiled and continued his 'story' while I listened very carefully. What he said was going to help me a lot when making the decision about what style I would want to learn. "Every choice has its own styles, which, on their turn have different speeds and has a different approach to monsters. I don't know any styles, but I heard that one is superior if you can master it... no idea what style that is, but if you could master that one, you'd make a hell of a tough warrior!" and he chuckled.

The remaining time we had to get to Perion we talked and got silent, watched the sky and we both had deep thoughts. I thought about what kind of weapon I would choose for my training, and what kind of style I could learn... maybe I'd pick the superior one without knowing it, "Whahaha, that would be soo cool" ran through my head.

I asked Korban: "It sure is dry in here... how are people able to survive in this drought? Or is there a stream near the town where they get their water from, Korban?"

"Yeah, there's a stream nearby the town, but it's 30 minutes walking so they take everyone to fill the huge tank they have in the middle of Perion. That tank has to be refilled every week or so..." Korban answered, "Ah, there, you see that big rock with the little black spots on it? There's smoke coming from it, meaning we're pretty close to our destination."

That news made me so excited; I could barely wait to get to the trainer in Perion. Speaking of him... I don't know where to find him. Maybe Korban can tell me that. "Eehm.. Korban? You know who the trainer over there is? I don't have a clue... so... do you?" I asked Korban slightly panicked.

Korban looked a bit uneasy as he tried to answer my question. "You... you don't know? I thought ya did man! Oh boy..." Korban replied, after which his face turned into a frown.

"I hope he's easy to find... Hey, I bet the people in Perion know him for sure."

I sure hope he's right; else all this traveling might have been the easy part of getting to become a warrior.

We entered the town at the bottom of the rocky town called Perion. I looked at it and gazed as I saw the entire town was built on edges, cliffs, rocks and that between tipis there were gaps that could even span 2 meters wide and if you would fail to reach the other side, you'd fall all the way down!

On the top of the town was a huge stone building with weird signs on it, written in a strange language or just drawings, I wouldn't know. Nor Korban nor I expected a welcome committee. Well, not really a big committee, just one person who stepped out his tipi and welcomed us to Perion.

"Hey there, I'm BlackBull and I welcome you to Perion, our humble settlement in this inclement surroundings!" he said.

"Greetings, Blackbull!" Korban replied to him, "We are but simple travelers who have come here so my companion can become a fine warrior."

Blackbull seemed happy to hear this news about me, because he asked us to see a guy named 'Dances with Balrog' or something. Apparently, he's the big boss of Perion and he could well be the one who will train me to become what Korban said 'a fine warrior'.

"We'll do that, thank you Blackbull. Have a nice day." Korban said. Blackbull wished me the best of luck at my training and we were on our way to the top of the cliff.

As we stood in front of the building, Korban said to me: "It's best that you go alone, he wants to talk to you, not me. Just answer whatever questions he asks and I will see you in the healing shop in an hour or so: I need to see someone who is said to live nearby. Good luck kiddo!" and he walked down the town. I could see him disappear in the tipi with a potion sign in front of it, but then I tended my attention to the building in front of me and entered.


	5. The Tale Of A LEgend

Note: The coming section of the story will be cut in two. One line about the actions of Korban, one line about the training of Shikotei.

I will separate the parts by the character who is the 'I' in the story.

--Korban--

When I said farewell and good luck to Shik, I went down to the potion shop and wanted to get some information about someone I had to see.

Arturo, a paranoid alchemist who brews the potions for the travelers here and also someone who you can ask for a flask or two of Braegh, stood in the middle of his tipi. His cauldron was filled with the normal substance of which you don't want to know what it was.

Next to him stood the ever kind Sophia, who was very popular at the travelers here. She helps them with the little things of life and gives them advice.

I said: "Good afternoon Arturo, brewer of Braegh! I wanted to know a thing or two about someone named censured, the one who could defy the Smokers and live to tell the tale about it."

Note: The reason why I censured the name Korban wants to know is because this is...CLASSIFIED muahahaaa!

No seriously, it's best if I didn't reveal it... yet.

The calm and relaxed mood that hung in the tipi was gone all the sudden and made room for a tense one.

After a painful silence, Arturo said: "Yer don't wanna know 'bout them scum me lad. They were ruthless basts, who killed the one ya wanna know about."

My expression was not a sad one, but turned into a piercing look, trying to let Arturo know I wanted him to tell me his tale about censured.

"If ya can drink me under I'll tell ya when I get sober again. Ye be warned though, no one ever drank me under the table when they challenged me. Sophia dear, get me a bunch of Braegh flasks, will ya?"

Note: Braegh is an alcoholic drink that is made from fresh sheep stomachs, poured in goat's milk for the flavor. It has a secret ingredient only Arturo knows about. This ingredient makes the drink highly sour, which on its turn makes you cough the drink up as soon as it hits your stomach.

The game of Braegh Arturo mentions has simple rules: Each person takes a flask, drinks it down and whoever can drink the most before throwing it all up, wins the game.

Sophia came back with 10 flasks of Braegh, and when I looked at that I did get some ill-like feelings. Arturo noticed and pestered me a bit: "Was you're mouth bigger than yer wits? Needa quit now, even before we started?"

"Pfah! I haven't even thought of that, but maybe you'll talk different after you've thrown all your precious Braegh in a bucket. I'll get you to tell me everything you want!" was my reply and Sophia put down 2 flasks on a table. Arturo and I sat on the two ends and looked at the flasks in front of us.

"Last chance, Arturo.. quit and tell me, or drink, get sick then tell me." I told Arturo, completely meaning what I said.

"No way, lad. Get yer flask and start drinking."

With the words said we started to drink. The first flask was not too bad; I gulped it down and said "Aaarghh... I really needed that drink."

Arturo had no problems either, so he grabbed the next flask and gulped it down in one shot. I did too, but shouldn't have done that. The Braegh got to my stomach too fast and I nearly had to cough it all up, screwing my chance up for the truth.

"Hehehe, that was too much for ya. Give it up while you still can." I heard. I ignored that and grabbed the 3rd flask of Braegh.

"Ooh... ahh... You're really... holding out.. aren't hips ya?" I heard Arturo say after his 3rd flask. I knew I was nearly there and mimicked someone who would cough it all up. Unfortunately, it didn't work.. yet.

"Less talk, more.. drinking." Was all I could say to him and grabbed another flask, drank it half down and went for my stomach. It felt like it could burst into pieces any minute, but while I pressed it, it felt less bad.

Poor Arturo grabbed his next flask and drank it all down in less than 5 seconds. That couldn't do him much good: he fell off his chair, grabbing for his stomach and his mouth. I had to drink my own flask down too, else I would be the loser, so I did and the consequences were the same for me. Now we both laid on the ground with our hands on our stomach and mouth. This was going to be really tense, with the both of us on the floor.

I barely grabbed a fifth flask and popped the top when I heard a splashing sound: Arturo had coughed up a lot of Braegh on the floor and thus declared the loser, so I quickly put the cork on the flask again and coughed some Braegh in the bucket aswell.

"Arturo dear, I want you to stop doing those ridiculous contests! You know you mostly win, but against a bowman you're chanceless. Maybe this will get you some sense about how stupid these contests are... it's always a mess when they end." said Sophia and sighed.

"You two better drink this tonic and clean this mess up yourselves. Oh and Korban, thanks for not spilling any Braegh on the floor. At least you still know how to keep some manners even when you're looking bad." and gave me a smile. I tried to return the smile, but failed because of the Braegh.

When Arturo and I had drank the tonic, cleaned up and helped Sophia help a group of travelers who needed some directions, the three of us sat down at the table again. This time not for a Braegh contest, but for an intriguing conversation about the Smokers and the one whom they hated the most.

"Do you really want to know the bloody story about the Smokers?" Arturo asked me one last time before starting his part of the story. I definitely did want to know it, so he had to keep his word and start telling me what he knew about the Smokers:

It all happened about 15 years ago, when there was a man who was legendary on the entire planet, meaning the four worlds of Maple. He could defeat nearly every monster alone, just the almighty Zakum and the Crimson Balrogs remained tough battles to fight. He was known as the Hero of the World, but few actually knew his real name, censured. In any way, he was the most skilled person in the entire world, his attacks against monsters were lightning fast, of godlike speed, of superhuman power and of such skill, that it was almost like he knew where he wanted to strike. Some say he was immortal and that he was the son of the Superior God, others think of him as an alien being, not from this planet. Some even think he was from another plane, a different dimension and that he was a demon who did good in this world.

What I can tell you about him, is how he became a warrior and in what way his fame was born.

One day, 30 years ago, a kid had wondered in my home. He was all bruised up and at the end of his strength, and when he came in, all he could say before fainting of his wounds was: "Where.. can I... find the.. lea..deeeeeer."

Sophia caught him before he fell to the ground. We had to nurse him for a week before he was able to walk around without any help. If only we had known that kid would become a legend...

The first thing he did when he was fully healed was get himself bruised up again by wanting to be trained by Dances with Balrog. Dances with Balrog does not train everybody who steps in his home: he first wants to test their strength and abilities, because being a warrior requires strength to hold a heavy sword, courage to face frightening monsters and some dexterity in order to wield a sword and evade attacks.

Our Chief uses a simple, yet challenging way to test agility of a new apprentice. He has a construction made of wood on the ground floor, where there is enough space for it. This construction is a complicated machine with swinging blades, rotating stone balls in a ring, wobbly paths and a price at the end."

Note: If you don't know what I mean, think of the "Den of Thieves" challenge in the film "Dungeons & Dragons". Just less deadly.

"The challenger is allowed a protective suit. Also, if the challenger has a mage friend, he is allowed the protective spell called 'Magic Armor'. This negates the cuts and bruises the challenger gets, but the armor turns from blue to red if it gets a hit, after which the person has to stop.

When the construction was built that day, passing travelers get a chance to test their own agility by trying the test. Usually when the construction is built, the whole town gathers to witness the skills of the travelers."

"Those travelers.. they make some sort of show of their skills?" I asked Arturo when he paused for a second.

"Well, let's say the 'show' is planned so there would be a huge show up. There are usually several events: the most common is the construct where you can try out your agility, next is the fighter who challenges others to try and defeat him for a price. Other include people bringing several Summoning Bags to show the skills they learned and demonstrate them on summoned monsters. Lastly there are merchants who come here to sell armors and weapons they found or bought. Some are enchanted, some are not."

"Arturo, my friend, you're straying from the actual thing I want to know about: the kid... Continue the story please." I said and Sophia giggled.

"Sorry 'bout that.. I just get fascinated by those events. These days it doesn't occur anymore.

Anyway, at the end of the day came the event most people, including censured, had been waiting for. The kid stepped on the start of the construct, looked at it and took a deep breath.

What we saw happening next was unbelievable: the little kid Sophia and I knew had changed, his eyes changed.. They were no longer big, cute and blue, but piercing, determined and yellow. He then moved with such agility that it looked like the blades evaded _him_ instead of him evading blades." Arturo said with awe.

I was all ears when Arturo told me that.

"Please, go on." Sophia said to Arturo, who then continued his tale: "Where he had absolutely no problems, most travelers with more training failed or didn't even make it that far. It was only natural this was the birth of his fame: the kid who beat Perion's construct.

Dances with Balrog, as you know him, could only think of only one style to train him in: the fastest and most powerful style, the same style our Chief was trained in so many years ago."

I asked what style that was and Sophia answered with: "That is something we don't know. You should ask the Chief if you must know."

"Can I finish please?" Arturo boldly said, we nodded and listened to the last part of his tale.

"The kid was summoned to Dances with Balrog the very next day. Our Chief accepted him as his student and so began his 5 year training. During that time we rarely saw him. After he had finished his training, he had decided to improve his skill by traveling the world. So he said goodbye so Perion and its inhabitants. He did say a personal goodbye to us before he set of."

"Every three years he came back to Perion. Each time his fame was bigger and bigger, until we heard he was murdered in the middle of the night by the group who named themselves 'The Smokers'. How and where we don't know, but it was devastating news for us. My poor Sophia was completely in shock because of the news. The only thing we know about the Smokers is that our censured was a big enemy of them, obstructing their plans time after time." Arturo finished his tale.

"The Smokers had been hunted down and captured. Most of them were executed, some were never found, only one is known to be alive. He lives deep in the dark woods in the center of this island. He was captured once too, but he had nothing to do with the assassination. He said he was against it, but his fellow mates tied him up, so he couldn't get help to save censured." Sophia told me, "So if you need to know more you'll have to find out why the Smokers wanted him dead and what censured did on his adventures to become so famous."

"I thank you both for telling me this and I've written it all down in my journal. I know you have only seen me listening to your story, but my journal is enchanted in such a way that it writes down everything I see, hear, do or say." I said and changed the subject into my friend and his training:

"Arturo, you said that Dances with Balrog has not arranged any of his construct events. How is a new student warrior able to prove he's good enough to be trained?"

When Arturo asked me why I wanted to know, I told him about Shikotei. "Aha, well that's easy to say. He has the construction built on top of a cylinder rock. The warrior-te-be has to use his strength to climb up the rock and his agility to get passed the machine."

"Also," said Sophia, "The old rule that doesn't allow warriors to pick their weapon of choice is no longer valid. Our Chief can only give advice about what weapon could be the best choice of the person who passed the test and thus receives training."

Arturo said: "One last thingy, if yer waitin' for your friend... don't bother, unless you're not sure whether or not he's gonna pass the test. If he does, it's unlikely he'll be done in a year or two-three.. depending on the weapon of choice and the speed he's gonna make progress. But if yer friend mentions ya, you'll receive word from our Chief, which will tell you how long it's gonna take him to complete your friend's training."

I thanked him and said goodbye, because it had become late and I still had no place to sleep. I stood up and walked out into the darkening evening.

--Shikotei--

The insides of this building were completely covered in the same kind of markings as outside. It was a lot cooler inside too, probably because it had stone walls. In the back sat a guy with a huge head ornament, with loads of feathers: big up front and smaller on the tips. He sat on a throne-like seat.

"You must be the big Chief here, sir." I politely said to him. He looked up from his throne and replied: "I am Dances with Balrog and, yes, I am the Chief of Perion. You must be someone whose wish it is to become a warrior, right?" with a calm, deep, but friendly voice.

"Yes, sir." was all I could say as a reply.

"I hope you can understand that I will not accept just anyone who wants to become a warrior, without knowing a thing or two about him or her." I nodded and he started to ask questions about who I am, what I wanted and how I got here. I answered all his questions with honesty.

The he asked me to prove I was worthy to become his pupil: "In order to prove your strength and dexterity you must pass a single test. Don't think it's an easy one, because many a traveler tried, but failed to pass it. It has taken long to perfection it, especially after one kid almost ran through it as if it was nothing. The test's location is east of the town and I will take you there. My assistant will explain everything. Are you ready to take this test?" "I am fully willingly to take whatever test this ma be, sir." I said with confidence.

Half an hour later we stood at the foot of a huge cylinder-shaped rock.

"I will leave you and when you've passed test, Rosco here will let me know." The Chief said, turned around and walked back to Perion.

Rosco was a sturdy built man who explained the test to me. Apparently, the test consisted out of two parts, a strength part and an agility part. I had to complete the strength first, which was simply to climb up the rock. There I would find my agility-test. He would go up the cylinder using the stairs on the other side; I had to climb up the front and so I started to put my hands and feet on the rock.

It felt quite sturdy, and would not break fast, so the climb was just strength and stamina.


	6. Training & Adventures

--Shikotei--

I concentrated on my goal and just went for it. I dodged the first big rock that came right at me, the second one too. Then I got hit by a third one... I didn't see that coming... and I flew away from the machine and fell onto the hard ground. When I walked away, Rosco called me back: "Hey where do you think you're going? You can't give up now! You still have plenty of chances to try, so try." he said. I had no idea that I could try over and over again, but if I'm allowed, then why not use the opportunities. I tried and i tried, but to no avail: every time I did get a bit further, but I became tired and all bruised up and got cuts in my clothing.

It became darker and darker, but I was still trying to get passed that dam machine. I did get nearly to the end, but I still fell off because some stupid rock I couldn't evade. I heard Rosco say "Kid, it's getting late. I will grant you one final try on the test, if you pass, you will get training, but if you fail, you'll have to come back when you're better.

When I looked up to the sky to concentrate, i saw that it had become filled with dark clouds. They rumbled as I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to utilize my last chance for warrior training.

By that time I knew the way to the end except the last three obstacles: I only got hit twice by rocks and got another cut in my left shoulder. I didn't care about that, because I was, at that point, only three obstacles away from that all-important training.

The third-last obstacle was a wall with spikes coming out of it. Some of them retracted, others extended. One wrong move and I would have my hand or foot spiked by one of them. You would think "Just stand there and look for a way up" but it's not that simple when you have to watch out for swinging rocks behind you... but after looking at it long enough, I climbed up, grabbing spikes that extended and leaving those retracting alone. Painfully, I had made a mistake and got my left leg and my right upper arm pierced by spikes.

When I jumped over the wall and landed on the other side, my face was grim, my clothes were bloody and ragged, my strength was weakening, but my determination was untouched, just as my spirit to overcome the last two obstacles.

The semi-last obstacle was a rotating floor. It rotated at high speed and had seven other, smaller floors in it that rotated in the opposite direction. I knew I could only stand in the center of each 'disc' because there I would have the least forces trying to throw me out. It was only a matter of balancing on the outer disc until it brought me to the last obstacle, which was hid behind a curtain.

I jumped onto the outer disc, but i lost my balance as soon as I landed on it. While spinning around, I wobbly tried to regain balance by constantly waving with my arms and bending back and forward. When I gained balance by sitting on the floor, it was very hard to know when to jump to the other side. There were two reasons for that: one was the fact that is was hard to know on what side to jump on, the other was that if I jumped too early or too late, i would fall of the machine, ruining my last chance for training.

Thunder rumbled in the area where I was making my decision about when to jump. Between the split second of the lightning's flash and the rumbling sound, I jumped towards one of the other ends. I touched a wooden floor and knew one thing: I could still get training, although I was too dizzy to be certain on what end I landed.

For a whole minute I laid on the hard, wooden floor, trying to get rid of the dizziness. When it was over, I stood up and looked down and right at Rosco's smiling face. I just knew I had made it when I saw that face and looked to the left, where a curtain hung, hiding the last of the obstacles. I waved the curtain away and looked at the last obstacle... and what a weird kind of an obstacle!

It was a piece of paper on a pedestal and a door. I tried to open the door without looking at the paper, but it wouldn't even creak, so I looked at the paper, which had four words on it: 'Dead To The World?'.

"Ehm.. Rosco, what am I supposed to do with this?" I asked, with a confused look on my face.

He smirked and said that I had to solve the riddle of the paper. He did give me a hint: "The answer has only two words, no more, no less. Say it to the door and it will open."

That didn't give me any idea on how to solve the riddle, so I started to ask myself questions like 'Who, what, where or how is Dead To The World?' After a while of thinking about the questions, I figured it had to do something with 'what' the words meant. To me, if someone is Dead To The World, he's not really dead. If someone is not really dead, then how did he make the world believe he is? A dramatic death?

"Worth a try" I thought and so I said 'Dramatic death' to the door, feeling a bit stupid about talking to doors.

It did creak, but it didn't open up completely. Apparently I was close but not quite close enough to be the real answer. "What's another word for 'not real'?" spooked through my head, soon followed by the answer. I told the door again and said "Fake death" to it, followed by a thunderous rumble and soothing rain from the sky. I didn't hear the door creak, but I saw it open up completely after those two words.

Suddenly, I felt really horrible, because I was still bleeding and my final bit of strength had been used and was fading away. I walked through the door and collapsed to the ground a second later. As everything around me turned to black I heard a faint sound of running footsteps.

--Korban--

As Arturo mentioned that I would probably not hear from Shik for a week I decided to go train on wild boars for a week. I had visited Sophia the next day to stock up potions for a week and I bought a whole set of arrows from Harry and River's store in the east of the town. After I had done all this I was ready to leave town for a while, so set of to the east towards the famous land of the Wild Boar.

After traveling for half a day I saw the first boar and I took an arrow and aimed a bit higher than my target and fired it. I had hit its leg and it looked around itself to see where the arrow came from. Luckily he didn't find me, so he ran of with me on its tail. This strategy may seem useless, but it's quite smart if you know what I was planning to do.

As I hoped, it had brought me to the camp of the boars and the others gnawed the arrow of their friend's leg.

'Okay, now you gotta concentrate to get your speed skill going, Korban.' I thought and concentrated for a moment and softly said "Bow booster" while a light glow came from my bow. It was not much of a skill as I was still trying to improve on this, but any help could do.

Then, when I wanted to shoot my first arrow, I saw another arrow fly from the left of me and knew that, somewhere around these rocks, was another archer. Wasting no time of this opportunity I fired as many arrows as I could before all the boars were pierced by green arrows and blue arrows. Since every archer has it's own color of arrows it was easy to tell who had killed which boar.

When the arrow-rain was over and the remaining boars had fled away, I came out of my hiding place and wanted to search the bodies for treasures. The other person had come out of hiding too, but he wasn't alone, but with a party of 3 people. They were all archers of different ages, and there was one pretty girl too. They searched the bodies too, but we didn't change a word until that was done.

As I looked at my treasures, I saw that most of the arrows I fired could be used again. I could skin some boars of their leathery skins and put those into my Bag of Holding too. There were gold coins too, but unfortunately I had not found an equipment item I could use.

"Too bad fella, but you'll have more luck next time." I heard one of the party say to me. He stood right behind me with his party.

"Well, sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not. That's life eh?" I replied and asked about the treasure they found. It was not much either, but it was consisting of mostly ores of a orange mineral.

"Yup, that's true", the girl said "but we haven't been lucky in a long while. You don't have a spare Ryden bow have you?" I could only disappoint her with a 'no'.

"But," I continued "I'm sure that you will find one, or be able to buy one while you remain here." Her face smiled again, and with that my bad feeling was less bad.

"I'm Korban by the way, who are you guys?" I asked her.

"Oh, ehm.. I'm Melissa, this is Tom, he's my brother, and this little fella here is Mike. Nice to meet you, Korban" she said. Tom said: "So why are you here? We haven't seen anyone fighting here since we got here." I explained him about my friend and asked him if I could join them for the week. "Four can kill more than three, so what do you guys think of the idea, can he join us?"

They agreed, more or less... just Mike had troubles accepting a fourth member in the party, but was soon convinced by Melissa. 'I think she likes me' floated around in my head and I smiled and looked at her. She was happy that a whole company was helping her to get a new bow from boars and showed that by skipping about.

The time we spent during that week Melissa and I had had lots of conversations about her family and mine. We were the same in that point, because her parents also didn't want her to walk around while 'dangerous monsters' could easily kill her. She, however, did manage to prove she could roam the world by taking a series of tests and passing them like they were nothing at all. She promised that she would always travel with someone else so that she wouldn't be alone. Her parents agreed with that and gave her some equipment and a budget to start with.

On the last day that I could party with them, we set of to Perion and were going to clobber any boar on the way to it. To make my week even more perfect, I had strayed from the group because I saw a pair of boars and wanted to get a few last leather skins from them. My luck did not fail me when killing these boars: one of them had a green yellow thingy, all covered in blood and the other had plenty of leather skin to cut loose. When I went to the river that was close to where we were, I saw that the green-yellow thing was and actual Ryden bow, but it was not like mine. This bow radiated a light, green color, meaning it was stronger than a regular bow that was man-made. I showed my finding to the group and handed it over to Melissa. She then gave me something I had never had before from anyone but my family: a kiss on my mouth and a hug afterwards. I blushed and felt like I was in heaven. I didn't even notice the shocked look on Tom's face.

The remainder of the journey, Melissa and I walked hand in hand and I knew we had fallen in love with each other.

We got into Perion and I told Melissa I had to check something and that I would be back before she could miss me and walked up to Arturo's tent. There I asked about the status on Shik's training: "He made the test our Chief had set up for him. And I have a note for you from him." He replied and gave me a piece of paper. It was written with a graceful writing and it was saying that it would take my friend a full month to complete the basics of his training.

"This is good news, thank you, Arturo. I'm sure Shikotei will tell me every detail about his test when I come back in a month and he finished his training."

"He'll do fine, I'm sure of that. You just have fun and a nice adventure this coming month." He said and waved me goodbye.

'Oh, I'll have a very nice adventure, especially now that I have found Melissa.' I thought and walked out the tent, towards my adventure.


	7. Peace Never Lasts

When I regained consciousness, I heard a faint sound of soft, running footsteps running past me. The sound faded away, but deep, thumping running footsteps came and stopped next to me. I now felt grass under my body and knew I was lying on grassy ground.

The person who stopped next to me bent over and took me up the shoulders. I now could smell the horrible stench coming off the person and wondered if it even _was_ a person. I still couldn't move and just had to hang there. After a short moment, the light running footsteps came back, together with a slithering sound of something glibbering through the grass.

I was thrown to the grass and landed on my back. I could move now and when the thing that had carried me walked away, I turned around and looked at the 3 persons ahead of me.

One was a girl, dressed in a green top and skirt. Her face was cute, but hard at the same time. The second was a devious monster, with hoofs, horns, a cruel armor and a spear with a moon shaped tip at the end. The last person-like being was a human-like snake, with the torso of a human and the head and tail of a snake.

I had heard of these creatures from the travelers who went close to the Tree in the middle of the island: The Necki. Other than the little snakes you meet in the jungles of Kerning city and the Deserted Subway, these are the fully grown ones with sharp fangs, a strong body and high intelligence.

"This human tried to escape from the town. What should we do with her?" said the horned demon.

"She will witnesss the destruction of thisss town, right before we feed her to ourss young!" the Necki replied.

"NO! NOOO!" the girl shouted and struggled and freed herself from the arm of the demon. A lightning fast flash occurred and the girl was on the grass; her eyes didn't see anything, just stared into the distance. "Foolissshhh human." said the Necki.

I turned around silently and sneaked away. When I had traveled a distance of 3 meters I heard the demon shout in anger and run after me. I stood up and started to run as well, but the demon shouted "DIE!" and I heard a lightning flash, the same one as what meant the girl's end. It missed me by a hair's length, but the second one hit me with all its power. The pain was horrible and everything went black before my eyes.

"...the same as this kid. Hmm? Oh, Art! Art! Come quick, I think he's waking up now." said a female voice, followed by the low footsteps of boots, resounding on wooden planks.

A low voice replied as the person had walked closeby: "Why do you think that, honey? He hasn't changed at all."

"Well he did stop tossing about in his bed."

"Yeah, now that you mention it... Hey kid, it's us, Arturo and Sophia. Sit up and have something to eat, you've been gone for like 2 days." Arturo said.

Knowing now that I had another bad dread, I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the sweet face of Sophia and faintly smiled.

An hour later, after a sturdy meal made by Arturo and the tale about how I passed the test, I stood, once again, at the gate of the Chief's place and entered.

This time he wasn't alone, Rocky was there to and smiled at me. I smiled back and turned my head to Sitting Bull, walked towards him and kneed. "I humbly ask you to train me as a warrior in a style of choice... please."

Silence went through the house, before the Chief started to laugh out loud and got tears in his eyes. After he got hold of his laugh he congratulated me on being the first in a long time to say those words and making him laugh.

From that point on, he trained me in a style that uses not only my own strength, but the strength of the enemy as well into defeating it. It was a long and hard training, with short breaks and a lot of practicing, both theoretically as practically.

Every month, I had to show him what I learned and overcome my own weaknesses and strengthen my skills. Time was nothing in those days...

It has been two years since I finished my training. During the training I learned a bunch of new skills, one with the power of two swords, one with the power of a sword slicing through everything in its path, one that would raise my defenses and the ability to regenerate faster than normal. On top of all that, I gained a very good condition and built up a lot of stamina. The activation of each skill had an incantation of one or two words. The point where I could use each of them without the words was my mission until the next part of training.

After I finished it, I met Korban again. He was with a girl who was his girlfriend and she was introduced to me. Her name was Melissa and she and Korban were deeply in love.

A year later they settled down in Henesys and got married. The week that followed they didn't have their own house yet, so I offered to stay at my place. My mom and Melissa were the greatest friends in no-time.

After that week they moved to their own house, provided by Chief Stan, and I set off once again for the world.

I've been in nearly every corner of Victoria Island in that year. There were only a few places I didn't go to, because they were inhabited by far too strong monsters. These included the massive stone golems, the evil witches of the Malady House and the deeper parts of the Sleepywood Dungeons.

About 3 weeks ago, I met a mage in the shallow parts of the Dungeon who was in a tight corner. He was being attacked by a huge mob of Horned Mushrooms and Zombie Mushrooms. All he could do was run and stumble because of the rough ground of the Dungeons. He looked really frightened as if he would perish any minute if he stopped running.

I still don't remember how I could beat up all those monsters, but I jumped down between him and the mob, concentrated to use the raising defense skill "IRON BODY!" I shouted. The mage climbed up the wall to get a safe spot and watched me fight the mob.

I used my mind to force my sword to become as thin as a paper and slashed through the mob with high speed. When I was through it, I turned and used my Power of Two skill to finish off the remaining monsters.

I must have looked frightening to the monsters, going straight through them and finishing them off right after that. The Power of Two skill I used was still under development, because sometimes it does not have the power of two swords, but just one. That's why I still haven't been able to go any deeper in this place.

Anyway, the mage was still up the ledge where I stood before I jumped down, so I climbed up to his spot and looked if he was alright.

"Are you okay? You look really beat up." I asked when I saw all his bruises and cuts.

"Thanks man. I really was getting my ass whooped back there." He replied. "About my wounds, they're not too severe, I can walk back to Sleepywood, but I can't fight. You see, the reason I had to run is because my mana was drained too much in a short time. I need some time to regain some."

"Glad you're ok. By the way, I'm Shikotei. What kind of magician are you?" I said after I started to guide him back to the surface.

"I'm Christopher, but I'd rather be called Chris. I'm a regular mage, but I want to become a cleric so I can tend my wounds right after a fight and, when I get stronger, I want to have the skill to heal myself in the _middle_ of a fight. "He said at a serious tone." Do you mind if I'd call you just 'Shik' instead of 'Shikotei'?"

"No, I even prefer being called Shik 'cos I like it more." I said and we laughed.

That mage is now a travel partner and a companion of mine ever since we met that day.

I had asked about his skills and he explained that old Grendell of Ellinia had taught him the Claw and the Orb; both were magic attacks using mana. In order to keep his mana level equal, Chris was taught the ability to passively regain more mana than a normal person would.

I then explained my skills and he said he was jealous about them.

"Why would you be? Without a sword in my hands I'm close to being useless." I said with a small voice and a sad expression.

He laughed hard and after he got by, he said "Without my mana I'm completely useless. On top of that I got bad stamina. Unlike you though, you have loads of that. Like that time we met... you were like a raging storm going through that mob that was chasing me."

"There's no deny in that." I chuckled, "Those were really some badass movements."

Silently we walked the path from Sleepywood to Henesys. It was a warm forest and a warm day. The sun didn't shine through the roof of leaves, but you could feel the warmness of the outside. There were few strong monsters in the path we walked, so we took the easy monsters down while having a conversation.

"So tell me again, Shik, why are we going to Henesys?"

"I have to return home every once in a while, so my mom knows I'm doing fine."

"But isn't that annoying? I mean when you're on a big adventure and she wants you to come back, wouldn't that ruin it?"

"It would, but I never mind going back to see her. She's my mom after all." I said with a smile.

"Yeah.. I guess so. But when we get in Henesys, would you mind going alone to your mom and let me go to the market? My clothes are getting pretty raggedy." Chris said and looked at his clothes and put a finger through a hole.

"Hehe, yeah I think you should get a new robe." I said when I saw his clothes.

When we got out of the dark woods in the center of the island, we saw green hills and bushes with berries growing on them. After a while there was this huge hole in the ground, where ropes lead down. In it were huge stone creatures known as Golems. I warned Chris about golems and their destructive powers, but Chris only had eyes for a person who was down there: "Shik, I've seen these things before and I.. holy moly! Look down there! There's someone fighting these huge-ass Golems!" and pointed at the person in the hole. He or she wielded a very long sword with both hands and cut the beasts like they were nothing. After the two Golems that were in the pit-like hole, the person stepped near a warning sign and touched it. The moment the sign was touched the person disappeared into thin air. A distant sound of crying Golems could be heard from down below and we knew the sign was enchanted with some sort of dimensional teleport magic.

"Let's go." I heard Chris' voice and turned around and joined him to Henesys, which was just a short walk away.

Once we arrived at the market, Chris and I bought a new stock of potions and then our ways separated. Mine went to my mom; his was leading to the busy market and the stands of the travelers there.

I went to the street where mom lives and knocked at the door, but after 3 times knocking nobody had opened. Thus I took my replica of the key and went in. The house was a mess, everywhere laid books and glasses that had been overthrown. Also all chairs were lying on the ground and the table in the living room lay in two to pieces. Everything pointed towards a large fight had been fought, but why I didn't know. I was shocked, for in two years time, nothing had happened while I was away. And then all at once this happened! While I put everything back in order, I found a letter. When I began with reading, my eyes became large of amazement. Just later on I ran out the door, locked it and sprinted to the market, looking for Chris.


	8. The Legend Revealed

After I had explained the situation to Chris, he advised me to talk with Chief Stan and ask for information about the kidnappers. I followed Chris to the Chief of Henesys and said: "Chief Stan, I presume?"

"You presumed right." he said with a gruff voice and turned around.

"What can you tell me about Smokers, sir?" Chris asked and looked hopeful at Stan.

He was shocked by the question and nearly shouted "Why the hell do you want to know about those people! You should leave them alone now that they're keeping themselves quiet."

"But I _can't_ leave them alone!" I said, "They took my mom and two friends!"

"What! They're making their moves again? By the Gods, I hope this will not be as dirty as it was 15 years ago!" Stan said and started to mumble in himself.

"Ehm.. Chief Stan? Sir? What happened 15 years ago? And how did they overcome that?" Chris wanted to know and wobbled on his feet.

"That's something you're better off _not_ knowing, but I can tell you this: Smokers were taking over this Island, killing everyone unfortunate enough to come in their path. My son was supposed to be the next target, but someone very powerful stopped the Smokers dead in their tracks. If the Smokers are on the move again, I want to know how my son is doing, so if you," and he points to Chris" would go to Kerning city. There you must find my son Alex and tell him that he can come back home. While you do that, I have got something important to discuss with Shik here and after that with the townsfolk of Henesys."

Chris left the scene in a few seconds and ran west of the town, where the Taxi was always waiting for customers. I stayed behind and walked with Chief Stan to his house near the park.

"It is time for you to know what your mother did not tell you," he said with a serious voice and looked me in my eyes. "I know that, during your adventures at Victoria Island, you have heard several people talk about the Smokers and their legendary opposer. Your friend Korban and his lovely wife Melissa have found out the full history about the legend and the truth behind its tale."

"What does that legend have to do with me?" I said and looked confused to the Chief.

"You will know after I told it, so please sit down and listen: There was once this Hermit, who had finished his training and could not be taught anything anymore. His name is Sora and he is as bad as you could be and he had his own gang or group, the Smokers. The name was not something he had made up, but the villagers of the places he had ransacked and burned to the ground gave his group that name. After enough towns had been destroyed, only these five towns remained: Ellinia, Perion, Kerning and Henesys. Sora and his Smokers were unstoppable and started to torture the remaining towns, instead of burning them to the ground. They had already tortured and killed Grendell's grandchild, Mimiru. My son, Alex, was supposed to be next, so I hid him. Unfortunately, they found out I had hid him and, for revenge, they took my lovely wife and murdered her in this town.

You didn't know who was next anymore; it could be anyone near you at any time of the day. Fortunately for us, there was this Crusader, who had built up a huge amount of fame around him. He was found by Arturo of Perion, the shopkeeper there. He told Korban how a kid walked in his tipi and ended up becoming a warrior because he was the first to ever cross Dances with Balrog's without a scratch on him. The Chief himself trained him, which is extremely rare. His name was Servatius. He was a very kind, and generous man. His fame, which was humongous, was equal to his strength. Servatius was one of the many who opposed the Smokers and his group was completely outnumbering the Smokers.

One day, Servatius' group and Sora's group collided on the eastern plains of Perion and had a massive war there. Both sides had terrible losses, but their leaders were still fighting. Eventually, after three days of fighting from dawn to dusk, the Smokers were getting the overhand and slowly defeated Servatius his men. They captured Servatius too, but only after many had perished trying to do so, and brought him to their lair."

Chief Stan paused to drink his tea. I still didn't know what Servatius had to do with me, so I asked the Chief when I would show up in his story.

"Hush, hush, I will come to that in a shirt while, Shikotei. I know you since your parents had decided to live in Henesys and I know you can be patient when you have to, so please, be patient now."

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm just curious about this legend and why I am involved with it." I said and looked down to my cup of tea. Stan looked at me as if he felt sorry for what he was going to tell me.

"I know this is hard, but it has to be told to you, especially during these days. Now... where was I?" Chief Stan said and pondered.

"Oh yes, Sora's lair! After Servatius was captured, Sora had ordered to get him to the deepest dungeon and lock him up in the most secure cell. There he was to be tied up with rope and chains. Yet these precautions were all in vain, because the prisoner broke free and diluted Sora's men to nearly zero. The only people who got out alive were Servatius and Sora. The only Smokers Sora had left were those on missions, so he gathered those together. His lair lay in ruins, his Smokers were down to six men, his plans destroyed... all because of one man: Servatius."

"What happened next? Did Sora give up his plans?" I asked full of curiosity, but Stan shook his head and looked defeated about the next part.

"I wish that was true, Shikotei," he said, "but Sora only had one thought; to kill his rival and start over again. Sora and his few Smokers had begun planning an assassination they would carry out a year's time. His target had gotten married and had his first child born. Sora didn't care about either event, not the marriage, nor would the child stand in his way to kill Servatius. Only that mattered and nothing else. The attack started in the night, when Servatius and his family were vast asleep. The attack was successful and Servatius was mortally wounded.

His wife and kid had woken up from the struggle he had given to Sora's men, but she was too late. Servatius was dying, while Sora fled out the house and disappeared in the night. Servatius' wife, Lily, was terrified when she saw her husband lay in a puddle of his own blood and tried her best to stop the bleeding. Servatius managed to say these last few words before he died: 'Wei Li Lyu Shing Erh'. It has taken us a long time to figure out the meaning of these words, but when we did we were astonished. It was an ancient spell, one that was thought to be long lost in time. He had used it to transfer his powers to someone else. I wasn't Lily who got the powers, but his son who got Servatius' powers."

"And you want me to find his son and bring him here." I said to the chief, but once again he shook his head and said: "That won't be necessary, because we already know who and where he is."

"So tell me, where is he?"

"He's right here!" he said and looked around, raising his arms.

I also looked around the house, but saw no-one but the two of us. "Eh... There's nobody but us..." Then I understood the whole thing: "Y-You mean.. I'M Servatius his son? And now Sora is after me!" I said and was stunned by this knowledge. The chief said that I should tell him what had happened at my house. I told him how I found the house and that, while cleaning up, I found a letter and showed him it.

After he read it he responded with a serious tone: "It's obvious that Sora is trying to get to you through friends and family. We should first rescue them before confronting Sora and take care of him for once and for all this time." That's what he told me. He also said that it would be wise to try to unlock my father's powers and use the help of my mentor to help me with that.

It was nightfall, and Chris returned from Kerning City. He wasn't alone, but brought someone with him. The person was all dressed in rags as if he shouldn't be recognized. For good reason too, because he was once targeted by Sora. His name was Alex, the son of Stan.

"Dad, Chris has explained everything to me. And I don't want you to hide me again and let me run away like a coward. I want to fight this time! I haven't been sitting around the past years, I have trained myself and had tough times fighting against the Dark Lord, who was training me all these years. I'm not a kid anymore!" He said directly at his father, not letting him get interrupted by Stan.

"Funny, how you still think I was going to treat you that way. I have had people watch over you and wanted detailed reports from them. Why do you think your master left once every week to an unknown destiny? I was reporting your advances to me and I ordered him to train you harder and harder." Stan replied very relaxed.

"WHAT!" Alex shouted.

"Alex, you're my son, and I've never let you go somewhere alone. But now that you have grown strong and skilled in the arts of Javelin, I will allow you to go with these two and help them as good as you can. They are only children like you once were."

"Oh... well.. thanks dad. I was going anyway, even if you didn't want me to." Alex said nonchalantly and looked up the ceiling.

"So what's our first mission?" Chris asked Stan.

"That's not too hard. I want you to go to Perion and help Shik unlock Servatius his powers; we'll need those soon if we want to obscure Sora's plans. Alex, I want you to do whatever you can to protect them from harm. Remember, Sora is probably watching Shikotei now, so we'll need to sneak out of town early tomorrow."

And so we set out to Perion, bright in the morning. I had explained to Chris what Stan had meant with Servatius his powers and saw him gaze at me like I was my father in person. Whahaha.


	9. Shikotei's Dream

Alex, Chris and I had traveled the entire day. Only a single rest at midday gave us time to eat. The night fell over the grassy lands.

"My feet ache!" moaned Chris and rubbed them. "Why couldn't we have more breaks, Alex? This is killing me!" He said and moaned again.

"Because we were being followed, "Alex said with seriousness in his voice. "We continue tomorrow, so sleep as much as you can for now." and laid down on the grass, pulled a blanket out his bag and used his hat, a Dark ID, as pillow: "Good night boys."

"I only watched as this happened, for I was too tired to even get bugged by this. I followed Alex's example and went to sleep. I didn't use my Burgernet helmet for a pillow though... too darn hard hehehe.

I was in a cold place. It was dark before my eyes and it felt like rock covered the walls. The floor was flat and felt like it had pavement laid there.

'Odd..' I thought, 'Who would lay a pavement in a cold, dark, cave-like place like this?'

All of the sudden, I heard a low-pitched voice talk further down the cave I was in. The voice was in a conversation with someone else. When my eyes were getting used to the darkness, I saw that I was in a cave with white pillars and arches. They were mostly broken and leaning against each other or they supported nothing but air. Most of the arches were broken too, with a gap in the center, stood on one pillar or laid in ruins on the floor.

I followed the hallway cave towards the voices that were in discussion about something. The sound became louder and louder until I passed a corner and saw a big opening where the two were discussing their topic.

The voice with the low pitched tone was not a human, but a big winged beast. It had red eyes, great horns on his head and claws which could kill a person with a single cut. It was a demon from ancient times, big, brown, hairy and fierce with great powers where you don't want to fight against.

On each of his sides there was another demon like beast. Curved horns, a strapped on armor a big spear with a blue tip in its hands and hooves as feet. They looked as dangerous as their leader.

The trio was facing a horde of cloaked and hooded humans, whose leader stood in front of them, unhooded. He was the one who was conversing with the demons.

My position in this place was from the side, hiding behind a rock in the entrance. I was in the dark side of the rock and thus unseen.

"I don't care that this place was yours once! I'M in it now and YOU'LL have to leave, fiend!" The man said.

"I don't think you know who you are dealing with, pesky human. I am a Balrog, a fierce demon from the depth of this place. I left because you humans had destroyed it 17 years ago! Now that it is rebuild, remove yourselves from here." Said the Balrog demon with his deep, strong voice.

"If you don't go now, Balrog," sneered the man, "then I, Sora, will have to _make_ you leave!"

"So be it! Get them my fellow Tauro's! Let the blood of humans stain this sanctuary!" Roared the Balrog and attacked Sora with a huge fireball.

'Get out of here, Shik! Go now before you get yourself killed.' flew through my mind, but the power of the Balrog just pinned me on the floor. I could only watch the fight.

Sora jumped to the side, evading the fireball with great ease. In the middle of the air, he made a second jump straight towards the fiend who had attacked him. 'I'm sure that's gotta be a skill; nobody can jump on the air!' I thought.

Sora was right in front of the Balrog, took out his curved dagger, that he had hid under his cloak and, in a split second, cut his enemy six times subsequently at different places. The Balrog couldn't even counter any of the attacks.

After that the Tauro's attacked the men and vice versa. Stars, spells, blood and sweat were flying everywhere. It was as if a small war raged before my eyes. Some spells deflected on the skins of the demons and flew away in different directions. Sometimes they flew towards the hall behind me and diminished into the deep. One actually flew against the ceiling above me and crumbled a piece loose, forcing me to dive away from behind the rock to evade the rocks that were falling down. This was the one time that I was not safe behind a rock to hide behind and I was immediately attacked by an unseen star. It penetrated my left arm and I shouted in pain and once I was behind the rock again, I took the blood-stained Tobi-star out and threw it on the ground. Blood was pouring out and I had to use a ripped piece of my sleeve as a bandage.

When I looked back at the battle, I saw the two Tauros laying on the rocks, all covered with burnt spots, steel throwing stars and gaping wounds. They both looked pretty dead. Sora, on the other hand, had few bruises and nearly no cuts at all from his attacker. He had a black thing in his hand and incantated some sort of old formula. The Balrog had it's hands full on keeping Sora's warriors away from him and smash the spells from the mages. He had no time to worry about Sora's activities, so he was suprised when Sora shouted: "Now, FIEND! Disappear in this sack as the unholy forces of Pandorra command: Fortrea do din t'icha Balrog!"

The demon was sucked in the sack, bit by bit. The last thing he said was "You won't keep me in there forever! I'll NEVER forgive youuuuuuuu", before completely being sucked in the bag, which closed after that.

"Magically sealed," Sora said "You try to get out you Balrog!" he yelled at the bag. "You may not know it yet, but you WILL serve me! The longer you're in here, the better you'll listen. Bwahahahahahaaa!" he laughed; his men joined him laughing.

"Victory!" one of them shouted and raised his red staff with red wings on it. "VICTORY!!" the rest shouted and all sorts of weapons went up the air.

"Now **back** to work!" ordered their leader and they all retreated to their 'homes'.

I finally had the chance to look around the big opening. It must have been a wonderful place before it was destroyed so long ago. The area was huge and filled with arches, standing and laying, broken and complete. The bases were mostly broken, some were barely standing and looked ready to fall.

The high ceiling was supported by newer pillars, roughly constructed from the broken ones in this hall. There was debris everywhere; rocks, stone, even remains of men and beasts, of which 2 new Taurospears lay, stripped of their horns. All this pointed at a big fight, maybe even a war, in this place long ago. The cave must have collapsed by the tremendous forces that, unintentionally, destroyed the bases of the pillars.

Sora's men are cleaning up and reconstructing the place... then this must be his _base_! Mom and the others must be here to then! If only I knew exactly where. I should go and see, but I'll be noticed. 'I'll have to get out and get help' I thought.

I turned around and...

"Goin' somewhere, SPY?" someone kicked me out of my hiding spot from behind me.

"I let you watch me get rid of the other intruders, cos they were a bigger problem than you." he sneered and kicked me again. "Now tell me, how did you get past my guards and traps?"

"Ehh.. what guards?" I said and stood up, looking up to the face of Sora. His eyes were red and slim; he looked really pissed off and just radiated his evil character.

"You look like a kid or a Halfling to me.. who are you?" he asked, surprised by the fact that a small person got past his guards. He grabbed my by the shoulders and asked again, this time louder.

I didn't want to answer, but could only think 'this would be a good moment to wake up' and closed my eyes firmly.

Suddenly I felt that I was laying flat on the ground.. on grass and covered by a warm.. fabric blanket.

The sun wasn't up yet.. but the time was close to sunrise. I was surprised that all that had just happened was just a dream. I shoved the blanket away and stood up. When I stretched myself I suddenly felt a strong pain in my left arm.

'Probably stiff from sleeping on hard ground' I thought, but when I looked closer at it, it was bleeding and my shirt's sleeve was staining red! Then the pain came back again and it hurt like hell! "Ahhh!"

I quickly looked in the backpacks and searched for some bandages. I strapped one of them around my arm, hoping the bleeding would stop.

I was shocked about how this could be true...

'If that was a dream... then how the hell did this happen?!!' raged through my head over and over again: "This is IMPOSSIBLE!"


	10. Christopher's Dream

"My feet ache!" I moaned and sat down to rub them. The entire day had gone by with just one lousy rest.

"Why couldn't we have more breaks, Alex? This is killing me!" I said and rubbed my feet again, hoping the pain would lessen. 'If I have blisters tomorrow, I'll blame you Alex!'

Alex replied with 'us being followed' or something.

"We continue tomorrow, so sleep as much as you can for now." He said. I looked at what Shik was doing, but he too, like Alex, was getting ready to go to sleep.

When I had laid my head on a soft, customized shirt I called a pillow, Alex said 'good night, boys.'

Little time had passed before sleep caught me and a dream started to take shape in my head...

"Hey! Daydreamer!" someone faintly shouted. I didn't pay attention to it; I was more occupied by looking at the landscape. It seemed to familiar, but I couldn't figure it out.

"Hey man. You awake?" a hand landed on my shoulder. I blinked and broke the trance-like state with it. I turned around and looked at two big blue eyes and a little button nose.

She giggled when I took hasty steps back.

A yellow glowing sword and a big tower-like shield were in her hands, a blue-ish pointy hat protected her head. A black fitted mail armor covered her body and her look a bit sexy. I had taken some time to look at her before continuing the conversation she had started.

She was still looking at me, it made me smile. 'Dang she's hot' I thought.

"So what's your name handsome?" she asked while coming closer. I could barely answer normally: "I'm ehh.. my name.. is.. Chris!"

"I'm Jessica!" she said and shook my hand fairly rough for a girl. "Pleasure to meet ya."

"As you saw, I'm a warrior. A Page." she continued and smiled. "I see you're a wizard, but what kind of magic do you know?"

I looked up to the sky while I thought of a good answer. "Me? Well I'm a..." "Cleric!" she interrupted.

'Huh?' I thought 'how does she know that?' but when I looked back down and at her, she held a Navy blue book that she had taken out of my bag.

"Heey, that's mine!" I said "Give it back, please."

"Aww," she said disappointed "I can't seen anything written in it.. all the pages are blank!" she sobbed and gave the book back. 'That's odd' I thought while I looked at it 'I _can_ read it all, while she sees nothing.'

"Must be old Grendell's protection." Jessica muttered.

"Anyway, since you're a cleric, ya can help me!" she continued, walking around me. A little voice in my head started talking, saying 'Accept, accept! Help her, she's hot and cute!' I couldn't ignore such a pretty girl and leave her like this.

"Sure thing, sweety.. I mean Jessica." I said and blushed while I looked at my feet. "H-How can I help?"

"Well, you **could **start by partying me and heal me." A part of that plan I couldn't do... 'I dunno how to heal someone else' I thought and said "Okay, while you set up the party, I'll look in my book and look at the party heal bit." to get me some time to find out how to heal someone else. "Cos I haven't ever done that." I said, shaming myself a bit. I sat down and opened my cleric book.

"You don't have to feel ashamed! Aww.. come here you." she stood up, walked to me and gave me a big hug.

"Every cleric I met could do it, " she said while leaning on me, "so I'm sure you can do it with ease too, Chrissy."

That little bit of confidence gave me a good feeling and I opened my book. I looked at the 'Table of Contents of a Cleric's Guide' and saw this at chapter five:

_Chapter Five: Healing Abilities_

_A: Introduction to Healing_

_B: Healing Yourself_

_C: Healing versus Undead_

_D: Healing Others_

"Aha!" I triumphantly said "Found it!"

"Oh good. Now read it and try it on me, I'll make the party." She stood up and started to mumble the chant for Party Leader. I hit pages until I got to chapter 5:

_There are two ways to heal other people; One way is outside a Party, the other way is inside a Party. This Section will explain both ways. There is little difference between the two ways of healing, because the Basic Healing (As described under section B)._

_Healing Outside Party_

'No, I need healing _inside_ a party' I thought and skipped the outside party bit.

_Healing Inside Party_

Jessica had finished the Leader chant and asked me if I wanted to party her. Of course I accepted and she started to chant again so I would be in a party soon after.

I concentrated on the book again.

_The Inside Party Heal is quite similar to the Normal Heal. The Cleric has to enable the Party Heal as shown in the positions below:_

The positions were little figures of a cleric enabling the party heal. I studied them before I continued to read.

_After the Party Heal has been enabled by the Cleric, he/she is to use the Standard Heal to heal all other party members in the vicinity. This action radius depends on the skill of the Cleric. The minimum radius is 30 feet (or 10 meters)._

_Also, if a party member does not require healing, he/she will not receive healing fro the Cleric. This enables the Cleric to heal the other Party members more efficient and keep Mana loss minimal._

_Party members who are dead, do not receive healing. To revive a dead member, please look in chapter three, section B of the 11th part of the "Mage's Guides: The Bishop's Guide"._

I knew what to do. Jessica was soon finished with the party making, so I said: "Jessica?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you hold the book like this while I try something?"

"Oh, yeah sure." She too the book and held it like I had asked. I took a good look at the positions and then closely followed them.

"Ooh, that's tingly." Jessica giggled when I was done.

'Now all I need to do is _heal_.' I thought and as I did I heard a sigh of relief and felt relieved myself.

"That was wonderful, Chrissy!" she said, "I feel like new thanks to you!"

"Oh it wasn't all that much, really." I muttered, but she said that I shouldn't be like that and that I did a great job on my first party heal.

"Thanks!"

"Now what would you say when I asked you to go down with me and kick some stone golem asses?" She looked at me and pointed down the huge pit.

'Golems?' I thought, 'Of course _golems_! That's where we are! I knew this place was looking familiar.'

"I'm not sure if I can handle them as good as you can..."

"No need to! You got me, right Chrissy?" and she closed her eyes, tilted her head to the left and smiled at me.

"Follow me then, hehee!" she was having so much fun, I just knew that.

She grabbed her things she had put on the ground and walked towards the edge of the pit. She then grabbed a rope from below and climbed down.

"Come on, it's okay!" she shouted back when she was on the bottom. Alas, it wasn't because the steak she, or someone else, had jabbed in the ground, came loose and I fell all the way down. The surroundings turned black and I was awake again.

'What a sad ending of such a beautiful dream.' I sighed and broke the silence that existed in the early morning, or late night. The sun wasn't up yet and the stars were gone again, meaning that sunrise couldn't be far ahead anymore.

I wasn't the only one awake, because Shikotei was standing on the grass. "Good morning Shik" I said. No reaction, until he suddenly shouted "This is IMPOSSIBLE!"

"What is?" I asked him and stood up.

"Aahhhh, NO WAY." he yelled.

"What is it Shik? You hurt or something? Are we lost?"

"This can't be! I was only... NO No NOOOO."

'This looks bad' I thought, 'He's lost it, and he's gone hysterical... I'll have to wake Alex, maybe he knows how to get him back to earth...'

And so I walked to Alex and started to wake him up.


	11. Alex's Dream

It's a shame we had to walk the entire day because of that stupid stalker. Glad I could get rid of him. He had to follow us this far, that asshole. I hope the other guys aren't too mad at me for making 'em walk this much.

"My feet ache!" moaned Chris and rubbed them. "Why couldn't we have more breaks, Alex? This is killing me!" He said and moaned again.

"Because we were being followed," I said.

_I'm so tired of this walking... glad we got rid of that stalking ass._

"We continue tomorrow, so sleep as much as you can for now." and laid down on the grass, pulled a blanket out my bag and used my hat as pillow: "Good night boys."

An annoying mosquito woke me up in the night. I tried to whack it in my sleep-drunken state. It wasn't easy but eventually my shoes did the trick, it squashed the bloody bug to death and I could go back to sleep again.

Not much later, I woke up again. Something rustled in the woods and woke me. "That asshole is gonna eat some stars tonight!" I thought and threw four stars in the direction of the woods. I heard a beastly cry and a thud.

I stood up and walked to the woods and looked in it: an Iron Hog lay there, it was dead. It had two stars in his side and one in the head. The fourth was without trace. The whole scene bathed in the moonlight. I grasped my loot and wanted to go to sleep again. _I hope I'm not sleepy tomorrow morning.._

Right before sunrise, the stars were gone, but the sun was still below the horizon, I woke up again. This time someone had woken me up. An intruder had come to our camp. I didn't recognize the man. He raised his arms as if he wanted to signal someone far away to come here and take us out. He was just a short distance away from me, I couldn't miss him with a star. He turned his back to me, giving me chance to fire away.

_Get lost, I wanna sleep dammit!_

I threw a star at the guy and went back to sleep. "Aaarrggg!!" I heard and thought 'That outta scare him away.'

A minute later I slept again.

A nudge. Then another nudge. Then a hard nudge and "Wake up" in my ear.

"Get outta here Chris, I'm tired." I said and waved him away.

"No, you gotta help Shik, he's gone crazy!" My blanket was pulled away, and my hat, which served as a pillow was taken away too. My head fell hard to the ground. _Now you've done it, you brat!_

"Why you little...!" I stood up and ran after Chris, who ran to Shikotei. _Shik's not looking too good, with that bandage on his arm._ "Bandage?!" I said to myself, "damn that intruder, he fought with Shik."

"He's hysterical about some wound or something. Get him to snap out of it Alex!" Chris ordered while looking at Shikotei, who was constantly yelling 'Impossible! Impossible! IMPOSSIBLE!!' and 'This can't be happening!' and 'I only got hit in a dream.. a dream! Aahh!!'"

_I don't have the time to do something complicated_ my mind said, so I grabbed Shik, lifted him up and shouted very loud in his face "SHUUUT UUUUP!!"

It did work. Shikotei stood where I had put him back on the ground and only muttered something indistinct.

"Now.. tell me, what's going on Shik?" I asked him.

"Well.." he started, "I had a dream.. where I got hurt right here, " he pointed at his bandaged arm "and when I woke up, I was _really_ hurt, so I strapped this bandage on it. Then I realized that where I got wounded and the wound in my dream were the same, but that can't be real, can it?"

_Impossible.. that can't be true!_

"Shik, where did you stand when you found out that the wound was real? And when did you find out?" I asked, still calm.

He pointed near the spot I had seen the intruder.

_Oh my God.._

"I felt the pain when I stretched..." He continued.

My brains had found out something bad. _YOU IDIOT!_

"Oh dear. Ehm, Shik? Kid?" I said, getting all sweaty.

He turned to me and asked me what I wanted to say.

"I ehm.. I know how you got that wound." Now Chris looked at me as well and they got a bit closer, as if they didn't want to miss one bit of what I had to say.

"I ehh had a ... quite a sleepless night and ehh.." I started. _Damn this is hard._

"When I saw an intruder right before dawn, I threw a star at him. That person stood where you said you stretched your arms... so I think I mistook you for an intruder. Please forgive me."

"It's ok... I'm already glad that I can't get truly hurt in my dreams." he replied and sighed. Something troubled him and I asked what his dream was about, and if he wanted to tell that.

"I'll tell you: I dreamt about Sora and the cave he had made his base in."

"Can you describe that cave?" I asked him and thought _maybe I'll recognize it and know where that asshole is hiding._

As I heard young Shikotei's description and the fact that it was once the home of a Balrog and that Taurospears roam the area, it could only be one place...

"Shik.. that cave.. I know where that is... it's deep in the center of this island."

"Really? Let's go there now and kick his ass!" he yelled.

"Shhh, Shik, listen." I sat down and grabbed Shik by the shoulders. "Shik, that cave, it's dangerous. It lies in the deepest part of the dungeon in Sleepywood. You've been in the shallow parts of it and know little of the true perils of that area. The place where Sora's base lies is famous. It's called the Ruined Cursed Sanctuary."

Chris suddenly looked grave. "C-c-cursed... b-but I know th-that!"

"What? You've been there?" I looked at Chris and saw the look on his face... it was a face I only saw once before in my life. It was the face of someone who saw a Balrog and saw it's powers impact a human.

"You saw a Balrog, didn't you Chris?"

"Wooow, you really did Chris? What did it look like? Was it big?" Shikotei asked away.

"Shut up Shik, this isn't funny. A Balrog is huge; it's a killing machine that can only be stopped by magic means or sheer power."

"D-don't worry 'bout me guys.. I'll be f-fine.." Chris said. He still looked pale.

"Alex.. that place lays in ruins. The townsfolk of Sleepywood told me. The cave collapsed when Shik's dad kicked Sora's army's asses. How can he make a base there?"

Shikotei countered that with "H-hey, I'm not even sure that Sora is truly there. I mean... he could just be in some different cave around Perion for all I know."

"Sora is definitely in Sleepywood's dungeon, because before you guys came to pick me up from Kerning, there have been 'incidents'."

"Incidents?" Chris asked.

"Yes, people disappeared and more rubble lays at the entrance to the Sanctuiary. Also, there are more Tauro's at the entrance of Sora's base... as if they were thrown out." I said, thinking out loud.

"WHAT?!" Shikotei yelled, "He threw out Tauro's?! B-but how strong _is_ that guy?!"

"Anyway, we gotta get going to Perion now. You need to know how to use Servatious' powers. With those, you can beat him again! Just like your dad."

"Like my dad... yeah" Shikotei sighed. He looked really happy about the thought of his father being such a strong man. Let's hope old Sitting Bull knows how to unleash 'em...

I apologized again to Shikotei. "Next time, I'll ask before throwing stuff."

Shikotei didn't agree: "If I was a real intruder, a assassin from Sora, I think you'd be dead if you'd ask questions... you did the right thing."

The 'camp' was packed rather fast and we were on our way again, straight to Ellinia to talk to the old Grendell about Sora and hopefully go to Perion by taxi... the only thing from Kerning that was actually _useful_.

I was still tired.

_Damn sleepless night!_


	12. The Aftermath pre

"Master Grendell! What brings you here?" and old woman asked.

"The same that brought me here" a raw voice responded. _I heard that person before... it is my mentor!_

"Oi oi, loud one, we're all here because of the same person." the man sounded faint, like a whisper.

"Then let me ask it in a different manner," the old woman said again, "why are all four of the wisemen of Victoria on my doorstep? And who are you looking for?"

_Four? Who's the fourth then? I only heard 3 men and that old woman._

Grendell gave answer: "Athena, dear, tell Mrs. Sweatbottom why we are at the Sleepywood Hotel."

"Well, I'll go straight to the point," Athena decided. Her voice was as clear as water, but sharp as an eagle's eye.

"Over the previous month, people started to disappear. They were reported missing by the townsfolk who used to see them walk around. The list continued to grow and, as inspectors investigated to see if there was a link between the events, they came upon two interesting, yet disturbing things." she continued.

"Let me guess, they all disappeared in this town?" Mrs. Sweatbottom interrupted, but as Athena continued, her guess was way off.

"No, not all of them disappeared in Sleepywood. The first thing that interested them was that _none_ of those people had any friends outside the list of disappearances."

"So they all knew each other?" the owner said.

"Possibly, yes." said Grendell. "But the second part is much much darker: they were all Sora's subjects before."

"Oh, where _are_ my manners?" Mrs. Sweatbottom said, "Please come in and I'll get you some tea, if you like." and she left.

Then, Athena, Grendell, my mentor and the other whispering guy followed her into a different room. I couldn't hear what they were talking about anymore, because it was too faint and I was too tired to stay awake.

It was in the twilight hours that Alex decided to sit down for dinner.

"Thank goodness, I'm starving!" Chris sat down and started to make preparations for a fire.

"Yeah, dinner! Yummy!" I reacted and Alex sat down too and tried to open a can of which its contents would be our dinner.

I looked around a bit and enjoyed the beautiful twilight sunlight. I heard a joyous yell and looked at Alex, who had opened the can. Then, right after Alex had opened the can, it was like an explosion of events suddenly occurring before my eyes.

One moment there was calm silence and a nice mood, the next we were under heavy attack of sorcerers, javelins and warriors. The sound of people shouting, swords clashing, spells exploding next to me was deafening; I didn't even hear what Alex shouted to me... something like "only five."

I was about to grasp for my sword when I saw it in the hands of the enemy!

"Crap this is b-" I fell back to the ground and lost vision and consciousness soon after.

_That bloody bastard Sora attacked us at dinner! We didn't stand a chance at all; completely overrun by surprise. On top of that, I was very hungry, nearly starving, when I woke up again, because the last time that I had eaten was nearly half a day before._

_Luckily, that's all over now and I'm lying in a comfy bed in Sleepywood, still feeling awfully weak; sometimes I just faint for no reason, or fall asleep when I'm not sleepy at all._

I heard voices coming from behind the door to my room, they were arguing about something.

Then the door got thrown open en I could follow every word of the conversation.

Apparently, the owner and my mentor were disagreeing about me.

"He's not stabilized enough yet! Sweatbottom shouted.

"Stable, or not, this will make him better!" Dances responded and I felt that my blanket was taken away, leaving a cold feeling behind.

"This has never been tested! You don't know if it works!"  
"Listen," Dances calmly, but loudly said, "these things are _pure_ energy. If it doesn't work, he'll at least be able to wake up and feel less bad." after which she had no retributive response.

Only seconds later, I felt this really weird thing on my chest. It was like an egg was cracked on me and slowly leaking everywhere. Then it felt really painful; it was like the egg turned into acid and burned a hole in me, seeped in and closed the gap behind it. Although the event only lasted merely a painful second, I felt amazingly good afterwards, but so sleepy, I think I fell asleep the minute after.

In that minute, I heard Mrs. Sweatbottom accuse Dances with Balrog of nearly killing me, while he just sighed and said "I could swear this helped... those power crystals are rare. This one came directly from the nearly finished Ossyria town, whose leader gave it to me. He got it from El Nath, the last town before the snow fields below, who got it from the ever threatening Yeti groups... Oh darn it!"

"Auuww, my head hurts." I said as I woke up and felt the pain. It was very dark in the place I was and I didn't see anyone else around. There was only one torch hanging on the wall, giving off a faint light. It was nearly burned up.

As my eyes slowly got used to the dark surroundings, I could see that I was in some sort of prison cell and that Chris and Alex were in different cells, both still unconscious. Chris was directly left from me and Alex left from Chris. On my right there was another person, sitting against the wall. Only then I noticed that person was looking at me: the light reflected in the eyes.

"H-hey.. you awake?" she said faintly.

"Yeah.. where am I?" I asked, but she only said that we were in a dark, cold cave without light or a chance to escape.

I asked her if she lost someone here, because she really sounded as if she missed someone dear to her.

She didn't answer.

A bright light source neared the place we were in and I heard footsteps. The guard came to switch with his mate, who sat in the darkest side of the cave. I didn't even notice him sitting there, listening to us.

He stood up, took the faintly burning torch and left, leaving his mate alone with us and a brighter torch hung in the holder in the wall.

Now I could fully see what the cave looked like; it was a low cave, the prison was built by jamming bars between the top and the bottom and reinforced by brutal means. The cell door looked weak, but I reckon it wouldn't matter in here, because it's so dark and you don't have _any_ idea where the exit to the surface is, that you'd probably get captured, starve or get killed before you get out.

A small plan occurred in my mind: _If I were to escape from this cell, take the guard out and open the other doors, the four of us should make a fair chance of getting out of here._

So I crawled to the left of me and poked Chris, hoping he would wake up and poke Alex.

"Pshhht, Chris!" I whispered and poked Chris again.

"Don't bother, wimp!" the guard laughed. He said that Sora had stolen their powers and that I was next to be drained.

"They'll be out for at least another few hours, _IF_ they even wake up _at all_, hahahaha!" he laughed, "When Sora takes your powers too, he'll be unstoppable! The Smokers will reign again!"

When I saw the girl in the prison and the size of it, I thought Sora did this a long time and that we were just captured by chance, for our powers. I hoped they didn't know who I was and so tried to bluff him not to drain my powers.

"Fine, take my powers, but it'll not be useful to him, I'm just a weakling!" I shouted to him.

"Heh, you really think we will fall for that cheap trick?" he replied, "_Your_ powers may be tiny, but the Boss doesn't want _your_ powers.. He wants your _DAD's_ powers!"

_Shit, they know who I am! This is going to be really bad, unless I figure out right now how to use my dad's strength._

"Hell yeah, we know about you. You're going to make us invincible with those powers!" and laughed at me for a long while, giving me a short moment to think about unlocking my father's immense power. _How does this usually end in stories? How does the main character figure it out? Damn it, I need to find it out really fast!_

"Don't even think about escaping; there's lots of us everywhere!" the guard said and became silent again.

"Say, if I don't have a chance of getting out anyway, what are you going to do to me?" I asked.

The girl on the right hadn't moved at all while I talked to the guard, but I could now see that she _really_ looked lonely and I said to myself I would get her out when I escaped from Sora.. if I could escape at all.

The guard replied with overreaction about Sora using some sort of strength test to make me use my and my dad's powers.

"And when you do use your powers, you'll get them sucked out and the Boss will become _invincible_, whahahahaaa. And then you'll be lying on the ground and we'll get to finish you off real slowly."

"And what does your bastard boss use to suck my powers out?" I asked aggressively.

The guard stood up and walked towards the cell, and shouted "Hey, I don't have to take shit from you, you worm! Come here and I'll give you the answer!" and tried to grab me, but he was too late; I had already moved away towards the back.

"Yeah, you just hide, you piece of crap. You won't last against us all, we're gonna _waste_ you!"

He walked away, following the same path as the other guard walked. He did leave the torch here, so I could still see what I was going do. The girl was still looking depressed, so I decided to cheer her up a bit.

"Hey, don't worry; I'll get us out of here. Those guards don't look too smart and I bet they're not strong either."

"He's all alone... poor fella" she said, but I had no idea who she was talking about, so I asked.

"He's not strong and not really fast, but I hope they haven't found him yet." she continued.

"Do you know if he can get help from above? It would really be helpful!" I said, but she just continued to mumble to herself: "I shouldn't have left poor Ichigo alone; he's just a little fella." With that she laid her head on her knees and stared into nothing.

The guard returned and two others came with him. One of them said "It's time" and the other ordered the third to open the gate. The three of them, although I struggled, took me out the cell and tied my hands on my back.

I was powerless in that state. And in minutes I would lose the one piece I had from my father, the most precious thing he ever gave me, and I was going to lose it to that Sora, who wanted it just out of revenge!

I was brought past an opening on the left of me. In the short moment I looked into the passage, I saw people eating and drinking and I felt the hunger even stronger. _I gotta run away to this place and get some food there so I can at least fight back._ I thought and tried to remember the way we walked and, lucky me, there were no turns in the path we walked.

"Say goodbye!" one of the guards said and cut the rope around my wrists and pushed me into a big open hallway. Behind me a gate closed, so the only way out... was straight forward.


	13. Fame

Something woke me up, but it wasn't a person. It was my stomach; for the first time since I lay there I felt hungry. My arms and legs didn't feel heavy at all, my nausea and weak feeling was gone too, as well as the sleepy feeling.

_That thing my master used really helped!_ I thought in myself, _I have to thank him for that once I get that hunger away._

I sat up straight and looked around the room for the first time. Apart from the cupboard, it was a standard hotel room with a closet, bed, drawer and a desk with flowers.

The cupboard next to other bed was packed with cards saying 'get well soon!' and 'You're my hero!'. A huge vase stood next to it, filled with beautiful flowers of different species, each with a little note with 'From Denise, to my savior Shikotei.'

The drawers of the cupboard were also stuffed with cards, with comments similar to the others on top, all from different people; some had very interesting comments so I started to read them all.

Within minutes my bed was covered with the cards I had read.

It wasn't until I saw a bright flash that I saw that a small group had gathered at the open door to my room. A second flash came from the camera a little guy held and captured a surprising me on the picture. That picture would later be seen enlarged on the front of the extra edition of the Victorian newspaper, under the leading title 'Hero Awake'.

The second I looked at the group, they exploded with chatter and questions and they all wanted me to answer them and give my opinion on things that had happened. It was overwhelming, but amidst the crowd, I heard a clear, razor-sharp voice who said "ALL RIGHT, you've seen enough, let him rest!" it was Athena, the one who I heard downstairs earlier.

The crowd fell silenced and left the room. They hastily ran downstairs to report the news before the others did.

Athena was left, all dressed in green with golden lines as accents. Her hair was long and blonde, and she looked like a real nice woman.

"How do you feel, Shikotei?" she asked, to which I replied I rarely felt better than this.

When she looked at the cards lying on my bed in a big mess, she couldn't express anything else but "Oh my goodness, that's a load of cards! I knew you were getting a lot, but I had no idea it were this many!"

I was quite surprised myself about the amount, _what did I do to get this many? It looks like half the island sent one._

"How are the others? Where are they? Can I see them?" I asked, hoping she would at least answer one.

"Relax, they're all fine, including that cute little one; his appetite is all back, so you don't have to worry, Shikotei." She said, after which my stomach gave a signal that it could use something to fill it up.

I blushed and said "Seems _my_ appetite is all back too" on which she reacted with a short giggle. She walked to the bed and measured my temperature by feeling my forehead and asked me if I was fit enough to walk.

"I'm just hungry, nothing more. I feel fine!" I replied.

"I'll see if I can arrange something with Lynda about you. For now, just rest a bit, okay?" she said and closed the door.

The pile on the right of me became smaller as the chaos in front of me grew. The amount of 'wish you well'-cards was indeed incredible.

_I guess traveling around alone will be hard, now that nearly everyone knows me_ I thought and hoped that the others got cards too.

_Ah come on, they know I couldn't have done it without 'em helping me defeat the last Smokers._

Right when I wanted to clean up the cards and wait for Athena to come back with good news about dinner, someone knocked on the door.

"Shik? You awake man?" Chris his head popped around the door creek and when he saw me awake in bed, the rest of him entered the room and the door was closed again.

"That was AWESOME back there man! That.. That skill... that _huge_ power, those lights! Soo awesome man! Can you teach me how to do that?" He flooded me with questions.

"How did you do that? How did it feel? Can you do it again? Was it hard to do? Did you unlock your dad's powers or something, or were those your own?" Chris continued to ask.

"Chris... Chris! Calm down man," I said. Except for a few, those questions were all mine too.

"Chris, most of those things I dunno about... but one thing I _do_ know," I said before he could start asking again.

"All I know is that those powers have exhausted me a lot. Also, they can't be mine 'cos I couldn't have been training that much in such a short time."

"By the way, what happened to you arm?" I asked when I saw his left arm was resting in a sling.

"I'll tell you later, first I-"

There was someone knocking on the door again _wow, it's really busy around here_ I thought. When Chris turned around, the door opened and this time Athena's head appeared, saying they were expecting the two of us downstairs.

"C'mon Shik! They got incredibly good waffles!" Chris said as he ran to the door, "with cream!" he added when he passed Athena, who couldn't help but smile.

She said that I could find a robe in the closet and that I should wear it and then come down with her.

_Nice color blue_ I thought as I opened the closet Athena mentioned.

Athena was patiently waiting at the ground floor when I stepped out the room. When I had gone downstairs and we started to walk, she told me to follow her to where the others were. On the way we passed the main entrance to the hotel. The woman behind the counter kindly smiled and waved at me, while behind the entrance a great noise came from. I could hear someone trying to keep the situation there under control, but hearing the sound becoming bigger, I thought it didn't go too well at all.

I followed Athena through the doors on the right of the entrance and entered a big room, with a huge table in the center and soft-looking chairs and sofas at the far left side, where the room cornered into an L-shape. I saw Chris sitting on one of the chairs, eating a waffle.

When he saw me, he said "Shikotei, you _really_ outta try those waffles, man!" as my stomach signaled its need for food again. _I really wanna have something to eat right now _I thought.

As I passed the corner and looked into the short end of the L-room, I saw my mentor, Grendell, a thief-like man and…

"Alex! Korban! MOM!! You're OKAY!" I shouted in overwhelming joy and hugged her. I let go after a while and she said: "I'm so proud of you, Shikotei! And I know your father couldn't be more proud of you if he was here."

"Where's Denise? I still have to thank her for the flowers." I asked my mom.

While she gave answer, I looked at the table and saw Athena put and Icecream Popper on it and said it was mine.

"Oh she's taking care of someone dear to her. She's really nice you know, I think you and her would be a nice couple together."

That last made me blush and I said "Mo-om!" but thought about how happy I was that she's no longer a hostage of that dreadful Sora.

Shikotei got his answer though, because when he had finished his Popper, I said that Chris should take him to the back of the hotel where Denise was.

"Yaay! Let's go Shik!" Chris said and pulled Shikotei's arm.

After the duo left, Dark Lord Kerin wanted me to continue the story of how we got out of the prison cells in Sora's cave complex.


	14. Imprisonment

_Damn, this is one heck of a headache!_ I thought as I woke up. It was pitch-black around me. I sat up straight and, as my eyes slowly got used to the darkness, I saw I saw in a prison.

A light came from the right side of me, accompanied by footsteps.

"So yer finally awake, eh brat?" the guard said when he entered the prison cave. He placed his torch in a holder on the wall and sat down on a chair and looked foul at me.

He placed his torch in a holder on the wall and sat down on a chair. He then looked at me with a smirk.

"That bladieblah moron next to you is frikkin' annoying, so I had to shut 'im up, heh." he said.

_Chris was awake and got the guard to open his door by talking too much_ I thought. The makings of a small plan. I smiled at the guard.

"Oh, so you want me to shut you up too eh?" he said and spat on the ground. "No chance brat. I know that kind of smile and you ain't gonna get outta that place, fool!"

_Too bad... but maybe I can convince him_.

"Oh. So you're saying that if you'd open my door, I'd beat you?" I said.

"WHAT?!" he shouted as he jumped up, "you're just a brat! I'd beat you up in no time."

"Prove it" I said calmly.

"HAH!" The guard shouted as he searched for his keys. Unfortunately for me, he stopped searching.

"Waaiit a minute.. you're just trying to get me to open the door ain't you?" he said with calm anger. "Well, like HELL! If you say anything again, I'm gonna get some help and kick your ass _so_ bad, you'd wish you weren't ever born!" He threatened.

The torch that the guard brought in gave enough light to oversee a lot of the cave, including the guard himself and the other cells. I saw that the cave was pretty small; there was only room for one row of five cells deep. Three people were imprisoned here; me, Chris and the third person was someone else. I couldn't see who it was, but I think it was Shikotei.

On a closer look at him, it looked like he was awake, but all crouched together and ignoring the rest of us.

_That can't be Shik... He's not like that at all..._ I thought, so I looked around some more to see if he was somewhere I hadn't looked before. I stood up and walked round my cell, when I heard the guard say "If yer wandring where that other kid went to, dun bother. He's as good as dead."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked frightened. "What did you do to him?" I grabbed the steel bars and looked at the guard.

He looked satisfied.

"Well," he said as he stretched, "since you three haven't escaped yet, I'm going back to the main event of tonight, HAHAHAHAAA!"

He stood up and left with the torch, laughing.

"What event did he mean, Alex?" Kerin asked.

"All in good time, sir" I replied. Before I continued, I sipped from my tea.

I told Kerin, Grendell, Dances and Athena how Chris broke free from his cell by blasting the bars off.

"I was annoying to the cell keeper, cos I wanted him to leave..." Chris replied when I asked why that guard 'had to shut him up', "didn't think he'd knock me out!"

A few minutes later, Chris had busted my cell too and the other person's cell door was shortened to a single bar.

"C'mon, let's get outta here!" Chris said and grabbed an arm, but she took it back and said:

"It's no use to try" with a sad voice," I tried to get out twice, but Sora will _never_ let me go..."

_That's ridiculous!_ I thought "You're not alone this time! Together we stand a better chance" I told her and reached out my hand, but again she waved it away.

"I don't want to get punished again like last time, so go without me. Goodbye."

She turned her back and clung to herself again.

"But..." Chris started.

"JUST GO!" she screamed.

"So harsh of her." Lily said and walked further into the room. "But... when you and Chris came to our prison, she wasn't with you. How did you get her out of that jail then?"

She sat down next to Athena and poured herself some tea.

"Well, when she joined the group on the way out, there wasn't really time to ask questions, and I haven't asked her during my stay at the hotel, so-"

"I have asked her." Grendell interrupted. "Sorry for the interruption, Alex" he continued.

"She is one of my students, and thus I wanted to know her side of the story."

Everyone's attention was now on Grendell as he sighed.

"But the only thing she wanted to tell me was that Sora kidnapped her to 'tease' her. She experienced it more as 'terrorize'. Typically Denise, never the storyteller."

"Did you ask how she got out of the cell?" I asked Grendell.

"Yes." he said, "she said Sora had summoned her by ordering the guards to bring her to the arena."

"Could that be where Shikotei was fighting?" Lily asked.

"Yes, because Denise saw them both there. Shikotei was in a bad state though." Grendell answered.

"I bet Sora didn't like the fight with Shik." Dances said.

"Ehh? How can you say that?" Athena stammered.

"I think he used Denise to pressurize Shik, so he wouldn't dare anything, or couldn't do much since Denise could be in danger." He continued. "That sick bastard, the coward!"

"Calm down you quick-tempered tantrum." Kerin said.

"Korban, Melissa and Lily told me how you and Chris helped them escape" Athena started, "That was really good of you!"

After sipping her tea, Athena continued with "You made sure Sora had no more hostages he could abuse or use against you. Also, the idea of Chris to put small marks on the path you've walked was good thinking too!"

"Yeah, we reckoned that all the guards were watching the fight, so there weren't any in the caves. Even if there were, I don't think they'd even notice the arrows, hehe." I said with a smile.

"But what did you do after setting the others free?" Grendell asked.

"Well," I started, "there were five of us now. All five could fight, so we thought we could take Sora on together with Shik."

"So you thought Sora couldn't take on six people at the same time? That strategy could have worked, if not Sora had over fifty henchmen in the same room as he was.." Kerin said.

"To be honest, when we got where Shik was, we saw something _so_ amazing, we were all astounded by it."

"What do you mean? What'd you see?" Dances asked. All ears were upon me as I continued.

"From where we stood, we were hidden, but could clearly see what was going on in front of us. We saw the very end of the battle right in front of us: the henchmen were all watching as two people fought in a dust cloud, as a balrog lay on the left of them. The cloud suddenly exploded in light, with beams coming out more and more until..."


	15. The Testing

"Well well well... if it ain't our little friend." he sneered. "Kid, meet the boys!"

A loud, long and deep roar, coming from a mass of people from all over the massive cave, was shaking the very ground beneath me.

_So this is where it'll all end, eh? Sora's 'arena' is pretty big_ I though as I looked at the surrounding stone.

"Boys.." Sora said as the roar faded, "shall we _test_ him?" Again they roared, in agreement now.

"OR!" he shouted to silence the mob, "Do you want to take on my men, kid?"

"What's the test? I wanna know that first." I said to him.

"Oh I'll tell ya..." Sora answered. He moved his Scorpio armor a bit and grabbed a bag. It was about the size of a large fist, round and brown. It was sealed with a short piece of brown rope. He played with it, throwing it short bits in the air.

"This.." he said as he pointed at the bag, before throwing it again, "is what you call a 'summon bag'. We call it a bag-o-fun. It contains a monster... and _you_ gotta beat it! Hahaa!"

As I was thinking about my options, one of Sora's men up above shouted something:

"Hey boss! Boss!"

"What is it Kozo?" Sora shouted back.

"How's that brat gunna fight us without a sword?" Kozo asked.

"He ain't! Hahahaa!" The mob laughed with him, filling the cave with terrible noise. However, Kozo threw a good argument for me back at Sora: "But boss, at least let us have some fun before he dies."

"Fine! Bring out... MISTER BROWN! Hehehe."

After Sora had said that, two men walked away from the mob and entered a side cave. In the meantime, the entire cave was laughing, for a reason only they knew.

"Who is..?" I wanted to ask, but was interrupted by Sora: "You'll find out soon enough. Now shut yer hole and make a choice: bag, or my bunch." he sneered.

_What would Dances do?_ I thought. _He's strong enough to take on those men.. I'm not. 'It is best to fight one strong opponent, than a whole bunch of weaker ones' he always said, but they're _all_ strong! And I can't run away either, not from him nor here. I'll have to come up with a plan... something- wait, didn't Sora say his bag contained one monster? Just one?_

"Class! Boys and girls! I greet you all here, now, this afternoon, as warriors of Victoria!" Dances shouted over the crowd of people who were chatting in excitement.

It was rare to see him give this kind of speeches, but today was a special day: First Graduation of Trainees.

The crowd went silent as all eyes, ears and attention were aimed at the headmaster.

"First of all, I want to thank you all for being here, since many of you have already tasted adventure and had to travel back to Perion." he started.

"And you did well in doing so, because what I have to say is very important! I'm talking about skills!" Dances took a small pause, so that the people mentioned earlier no longer bother their neighbors with stories.

"Thank you. The skills I mean are not found in books, guides or stories. These skills are in your heart and cannot be chosen, or changed. Most of these skills are similar to those we teach you, and who others teach others. Though similar, they surpass the books in every aspect. You would do wise as to discover them, master them and use them in battles. These skills are difficult to gain."

Before the level of chatter reached too high, Dances continued about a different type of skill.

"There is also the inherited skill, something your mom and dad gave to you when you were born." he said.

"But beware; only firstborn people have a good chance on having one of those skills. In comparison, you all have your studying and training books." A loud moan passed through the people. "Yes, those books. Now pile them up and you have the chance a firstborn has. This piece of paper here is the change the rest has one attaining an inheritance skill. The skill is easier to gain than the previous ones I mentioned, but still not as easy as the ones from the books. A good start into this would be to ask your parents where they are good at..."

The speech was longer, but not as interesting as this.

_I've learned a lot since graduation_ I thought as Sora opened the bag.

"It takes a while, so don't you dare bug me. If you do.." he said and looked foul at me, "I'll send my men to keep you busy _and then_ open the bag so you'll be in deep, _deep_ shit. You dun want that do you?"

_I wonder what he put in that bag..._

It started to glow and the rope was loosening. Suddenly I saw a flash of the dream in Sora's cave in front of me.

_Oh god... oh no! AH! He wouldn't... he can't!_

"RROOAAAAARR!!"

Just one moment later, I found myself in a very bad position.

"Sora you lying bastard! You it only had _one_ monster!" I shouted, standing in the middle of the circle of white, cycloptic monsters.

_Dammit! There's at least twenty of them._

"I guess I lied. What you gonna do 'bout it? _Cry_? Deal with it, brat! Haahaahaa!" he replied.

_I don't even have a sword! How the h- calm down.. easy does it... gotta find their weak point! Everything has a weak spot. _I thought and looked at the monsters.

_I could chop off- no.. no sword argh! AH! Eye! it only has _one_ eye!_

As if they waited for this moment, the two came back and threw me something. It landed in front of me with a soft thud.

I picked it up and looked at it with deep hatred for Sora.

"This thing's all RUST!" I shouted at him.

"That sounds like mister brown yeah," he shouted back, laughing. "Have fun!"

_I should have known.. it was too good to be true._ I sadly thought, _at least I can poke their eyes out now._

Within seconds of that last thought, three of those white evil eyes were sprawling on the ground, slamming its tail everywhere and ramming others with it. Knowing I was to blame for their friends' pain, the rest started to attack me, but luckily, not all at the same time.

I ducked, jumped up or stepped back to evade their fangs and tails. Some hit me, causing temporary imbalance, but they never could bite me. Bearing the pain from the hits, I stabbed and poked eyes out, making more and more monsters drop on the ground. Eventually their attacks stopped, and a whole bunch of them was sprawling on the floor, ramming and slamming their tails around. The tails hurt many monsters more than I could at that moment. Except for one standing, which was looking at me in fear.

_It must be scared to death seeing all his friends like this._

I decided to "RROOAARR!!" it away. The white evil eye fled, but suddenly, it fell down and stopped moving at all.

"I expected nothing less from my ex-rival's son." Sora said, as if he planned my victory. I could sense he was pissed though. It gave me satisfaction, 'anger is your enemy in battle'.

_Now that I have a sword, I just have to get close enough to him, so I can stab out that wicked heart of him_ I thought _but the rusty blade won't kill Sora if I throw it. Even if it does, I too would probably die from the attacks of his henchmen. Especially if that dream _was_ real. OH CRAP! If that's true.. then.. he has.. a-_

"You ready for the second test?" I heard Sora say before the crowd started roaring again.

Sora had killed the white monsters, and they were starting to dissolve into bones or nothing, leaving treasure and silence behind.

"There wasn't just one test?" I said to Sora. He just laughed and continued with his plans.

"I never said that, did I boys?" Sora said in innocence and his men mumbled denial.

"This one's easier though, 'cos there's only one monster in this bag here."

_Crap, he's talking ab-_

"But it's not as weak as those Cold Eyes." he sneered.

_When he starts to open that bag, I'm gonna get my chance to kill him_ I thought and prepared.

"Oh, and if you bug me _this_ time, and I mean it, I will personally RIP you up. Right after my companions bust you up _so bad_ you'll beg for death.

_Can't have that.. he mustn't involve his men, or I'm so dead._ I thought and hoped for the best.

"Good boy." Sora said.

He started the summon spell again, but it sounded different somehow. A shape was forming in front of Sora; first three flames drew a triangle. Then a circle around that triangle formed, together with a ball on the inside. It was full of weird markings in red and yellow.

When Sora was done, a huge bang occurred and a column of fire blasted through the sign Sora's spell created. A roar that shook the entire cave came from amidst the fiery flames and two huge brown bat like wings stuck out. The column vanished as fast as it begun and the sign with it.

The summoned monster was now visible, and it was gigantic! It was at least three meters tall, brown and hairy, with the two wings I saw earlier. It had two three-fingered claws two black horns on its head. It stood on two enormous hooves. It looked straight at me with its red eyes in black housings.


	16. The Balrog

Chris led me to the back door of the Sleepy Hotel.

"Denise and Aiko are just around the corner." he said.

_I guess I'll tell them what happened in the arena before I tell the people Alex was talking to._

We stepped out into a small open field with grass and sunlight.

"I never knew the sun could breach the roof of the Eternity Tree this close to the center." I said as I looked up.

"Yeah, well the people of Sl- watch out!" Chris said, right before something fast and heavy knocked me on the grass. When I got a better look at it, I saw that it was purple and that it was licking my face all over.

"Aiko, bad!" Chris said and tried to take the little Cargo off of me. It didn't go too well and by the time someone else shouted its name, I was a victim of its tongue.

When Denise came around the corner Chris mentioned and saw me laying on the grass with her pet-Cargo on top, all she could bring out was "Ahh! Aiko! Baad Aiko, get off of him!" and she rushed over to pick up her pet.

"I'm soo sorry," she said when she helped me sit upright.

"I didn't know you were coming when little Aiko ran off."

As she squatted down on her knees to put the little Cargo on the ground again, I tried to make her feel better, mostly by saying that Aiko was quite cute for a Cargo.

"Those big ones are really scary! Also, compared to what Sora did to me, Aiko isn't that bad, hehe."

Come to think of it, I didn't know what Sora wanted with Denise in the first place. So I asked her how she ended up in one of his prisons.

"I don't want to talk about it..." she mumbled. "It's just that.. I didn't do anything wrong!"

"It's okay now; if you don't want to talk about it you won't have to. He'll never bother you again." I said, trying to calm her down a bit.

"Yeah! Shik kicked Sora's butt back there!" Chris said, "Sora even needed a hostage to keep Shik away from him hahaha!"

"Where did you hear that?" I asked Chris, but Denise answered.

"I was taken out of my cell because Sora ordered it." She said. "Apparently, you were quite a problem to him."

"Yeah, I guess so.. I had already defeated his bag full of Cold Eyes with just a few bruises."

"That must've scared him good, hehe. But what made him order his men to fetch Denise?" Chris wondered.

"Well... after his Cold Eyes were defeated, he summoned..."

_A BALROG?!_ I thought as it looked at me.

"Hahahahahaaa!!" Sora roared, "try beating _this_ monster aahahahaa!"

Then, right after that, the beast turned around. Now looking at Sora, it spoke:

"You released me from my prison, how can-"

It was brutally interrupted by Sora, who ordered the Balrog to shut up and listen.

"Listen you hairy piece of crap, I want you to kill that brat behind you!" he shouted.

"What? You humans can't even handle a single infant?!" it grunted with its deep voice.

"Just do it, or be killed yourself!" Sora sneered back.

With that, the Balrog turned around again and looked down at me. Slowly a sinister smile formed on its scary face.

_I'm glad they had that short talk..._ I thought as the Balrog raised one of its arms and formed a fist with its hand.

_It gave me the time I needed to overcome enough fear to keep my wits_ I thought _I just gotta survive until I have some sort of plan that can help. How do I beat such a powerful being?_

The fist came down, but missed my head and crushed the ground where I stood a split second ago.

"Ooh, so you're not afraid of me? Most of you pitiful humans are scared stiff when they see me, haha!" the Balrog said, "So how about this?"

It stood up to its full length, spread out its two massive wings to the fullest, and roared in might.

The cave was trembling _so_ violently that parts of the ceiling came down. I had to really watch out for the big chunks that could have instantly killed me.

"Y-yeah, that's pretty scary, but it won't hurt me." I said, although I was bluffing about the scary part...

_Dammit that was freaking me out! How big is that thing?!_

"Heh," the Balrog made that sinister smile again, "I didn't think I would need to use this on a kid like you, so be honored."

Sora stood back and watched us from a short distance. Even he wouldn't want a fighting Balrog close by.

When I looked at the beast again, its arm was raised again, but not fisted. An open hand created a small flame that grew bigger and bigger until...

"Do not be afraid, for I will end your nightmare!"

And with that said, the Balrog threw the flame at me. It flew with such a high velocity that I could barely dodge it. Even my clothes had some burn marks!

_What the hell was that attack?!!_ I thought and looked behind me. The ball of fire was actually a huge flaming rock, like a small meteorite.

"Why are you doing this? _He's_ the bad person here!" I shouted and pointed at Sora, who laughed along with his henchmen.

"Like hell _I_ care! Just stand still and DIE!" the Balrog sneered and threw another meteorite.

_CRAP! That was too close for comfort! I gotta make it go easier on me, but how?_ I thought, and, as if Sora heard it, he gave another order to the Balrog.

"Balrog, kill him _slowly_, make him suffer!"

"With pleasure, hehehehe." the Balrog answered, now with an evil smile on its face.

_That's one way_ passed my mind, _but not the best._

The Balrog raised a claw again and fisted it. Along with that fist, a two-foot chunk of rubble floated upwards. I was astonished as to how that Balrog did that. My astonishment turned into pain and surprise because that same rock hit me an instant later. Only my reflection of raising my sword to block some of the impact saved me. Still, the force of it sent me flying backwards into the cave wall, leaving a crater in it. My knees failed me and I fell on the ground. The rusty blade of the sword I held no longer had a tip.

I slowly stood up, trying not to lean too much against the wall, and pointed my sword at the Balrog, saying:

"You will pay for that, you fur ball. Look what you did to my sword. You will PAY!" with a somewhat different, more serious and threatening tone.

The beast seemed interested and asked me how I would make my words truth.

The same question was hovering in my thoughts. In addition, as my thinking went deeper and deeper, I slowly came to the conclusion... _I can't beat it.. not with my current strength nor skills and especially not... my current state. That rock hit me too hard. I just... can't beat this Balrog._

I lowered my head and leaned against the wall.

"Dad..." I mumbled softly, "I'm sorry..."

The Balrog was slowly walking towards me, step by step.

"I guess I'll meet you in heaven soon. If only I was stronger, so I could protect mom from Sora.."

The monster now stood right before me.

"I wish I was stronger..." I mumbled.

The Balrog looked down and said, "What are you mumbling, boy?"

"I wish I was stronger." I said, half mumbling.

"Can't hear you, brat!" Speak up!" it said a bit louder.

"I wish I was stronger!" I answered, now with a clear voice.

"What did he say, Rog?" Sora shouted.

"I WISH I WAS STRONGER!" I shouted, "I wish... I... WAS... STRONGEEEEERRR!!" with all my heart.

As I was screaming my heart's desire, I felt an enormous power surging through my body. It started in my heart, grew through my chest, arms, and legs, and ended in my head. Suddenly a blue light shined from below my feet, and when I looked down, I saw a blue glowing circle circling upwards around my body towards the back of my neck. It grew larger in size and brightness into a huge blue clod of light, which was slowly taking the shape of a tiger.

When it roared, I didn't hear anything at all, but the cave collapsed at several places, burying and killing some of Sora's men, who were holding their hands onto their ears from the noise they heard, below tons of rubble. Sora himself was no exception as he shuddered a little. The cave collapsed with great tremor and several of Sora's men died, squashed beneath the rubble. The Balrog, that had extended its claw to grab me, rapidly retracted it and covered its ears so it wouldn't have to hear my Tiger's deafening roar.

My body moved on its own as I grabbed my broken sword and leaped straight at the now defenseless Balrog. I rammed my sword as deep as I could into the right half of its chest, ripping apart the dark heart of the mighty beast beyond recovery.

"RRRAAAAHHHH!!" it screamed out of intense pain and swiped me, still holding on to the sword, away. My sword went away with me, giving the Balrog even more agonizing pain.

It continued to rampage everywhere it stumbled, until it fell on its knees and slowly lost the battle for life. With a loud thud, the once mighty Balrog fell to the ground, now nothing more than a corpse.

The Tiger was no more either and the cave fell silent.

I slowly stood up, looked at the defeated Balrog lying near me and looked further on to Sora, whose face was deeply shocked.

I slowly raised my sword, drenched in black blood, and pointed it at Sora

"You're next, scum!" I said, still with a voice that couldn't be mine, "The power of the black blood of the Balrogs will awaken this broken blade and will be _your DOWNFALL_!"


	17. Exordium of Terminus

"What do you mean? What'd you see?" Dances asked. All ears were upon me as I continued.

"From where we stood, we were hidden, but could clearly see what was going on in front of us. We saw the very end of the battle right in front of us: the henchmen were all watching as two people fought in a dust cloud, as a Balrog lay on the left of them. The cloud suddenly exploded in light, with beams coming out more and more until-"

The door at the front of the hotel was slammed open and was shut again. Lynda was clearly heard as she was trying to stop whoever ran into the hotel, but to no avail when the door connecting the main hall and this room flew open.

As footsteps from around the corner approached, the Wise Men stood up and took defensive positions.

"Alexander?" the man shouted. He sounded very familiar, almost like...

I stood up, looked past Grendell, and saw the intruder come around the corner.

"Dad?!" I said shocked. "Why the hell are you barging in here like that?!"

Dances, Grendell, Kerin and Athena dropped their guards when they saw it was only Chief Stan from Henesys.

"Can't you ever come in a normal way? You made us think you were one of Sora's men or something!" I scolded at him.

Even Athena was angry with my dad for startling us.

"I hope you have a very good reason for this action Stan." She said aggravated.

"I'm sorry for barging in like this, but I found something very interesting about Servatius. I think this will affect you as well, Lily." A serious Stan said.

Looking at her expression, I could tell she was dying to know this piece of information about her late husband.

So was I.

"You're next, scum!" he said, "The power of the black blood of the Balrogs will awaken this broken blade and will be _your DOWNFALL_!"

_Curse that little maggot!_ I thought, _he just killed my Rog! Even _I_ didn't expect this to happen!_

This was going bad, and I had to turn the tables before it was too late.

"Get the girl!" I ordered the two behind me, Kurt and Johnny, who ran off to the prison.

"Kill me? _Me_? Hah! How are you going to do that?" I said to Shikotei.

"I bet you don't even know how you used that skill!"

I slowly put my hands in my side pockets and grabbed some Kumbi stars.

_Let's see how you do against my stars..._

I quickly threw four stars towards the brat, deliberately aimed to miss him. He didn't even move from his spot and shouted back: "Is that all you got, you fool?"

_His behavior is completely different compared to when he was fighting the Cold Eyes... How come?_

_Even though his sword is Old Browny, broken and he himself pretty banged up, he still has the attitude to brag._ I had to find out what changed him.

He grabbed his sword with two hands, bent his knees, stood wide legged and pointed his weapon upwards. Somehow, this stance looked familiar.

He came running at me, with the sword at his side, still pointing up. _Here we go_ I thought and got in a defensive stance, chose for Steely in either hand and awaited him.

His first slash was a miss, and I saw a chance for retaliation. _Too easy_ I thought, soon before he blocked it and counterattacked me again. This time I blocked his attack, which would else have cost me my arm.

_He's serious about this, eh?_ I grinned.

The brat must not have noticed I wasn't serious and bragged some more. _He really does behave different than before._

I use Flash Jump to get a good distance from him. A slightly glowing wave of rubble around me showed that I used my Booster. "Too bad kid, but you won't get me that easily." I shouted from afar. He ran at me, so I had to be quick and make my move.

When Stan had kindly declined Lynda's offer to bring him some tea, he came to the subject.

"Lily, can you remember the last three words your husband said?" he asked her.

"Err.. Let me think that through." She replied with a deep frown.

"I think it was 'Lyuu Shin Erth'. Yes, definitely."

"Oh dear, I was afraid of this." Stan reacted serious. Seems he really _did_ find out something.

"You see, for all this time, while we researched his spell, we thought the last three words were 'Lyu Shing Erh'."

"What's the difference?" I asked, when I compared those words.

"That's the whole point, son. Those words ARE different! The spell we researched said that 'he who uses this spell will bind ones own power into another person, one his heart chooses.' The words Lily said are bound to a completely different spell. Sure it still conveys power, but not into a human.

A storm of stars was coming at me, Ilbis and Steelies alike. It was hard to dodge them all; I had to jump to the left and then fall to the ground, only to see that they were coming straight at me. I rolled over to the right again and blocked one with my sword. Blood flew off as the Steely flanked it. Sora threw his weapons at an amazing speed; it was exhausting me quite a bit.

The voice in my head really helped me dodge most of them, but even he couldn't see them all; when the storm ended and Sora stopped throwing, I had worse wounds than I ever had.

_How do you speak in my head? And why are you helping me?_ I asked the voice in my head through thought.

_"This man once killed me."_ he said. That still didn't give me a clue who he was and how he got in my head.

The blood on the blade was drying up slowly. The voice said that if it was completely dry, something would happen to it. Something that would help me defeat Sora. _I have to keep dodging and try to attack Sora some more._ I thought.

"Well well well, so you're still alive, eh?" I heard arrogance in Sora's voice. "Well, that'll soon change, unless you want me to hurt _this girl_ here."

I saw two men appearing behind Sora, coming from a hole. They had a tied up girl between them.

It was the girl from the prison!

"What?! She has NOTHING to do with us, Sora! Let her go!" I shouted.

Sora liked the way I reacted and acted despicable, going all "Ooohhh, so you like her don't you? You better quit fighting, or she won't be as pretty as she was." He threatened.

_"Shik, this is going bad, let me take over!"_ the voice spoke.

_What? Take over? What do you mean? Take over my body?_ I thought to the voice.

_"Yes. I've done this before, remember? Trust me."_ he said.

"Not into another human? What do you mean by that?" Grendell asked.

"Yes, please explain. What does that other spell do?" Lily water eyed.

"The spell we thought he used, transfers his powers into another human. We thought it was his son. With the confirmation I just got from you Lily, I know now that is not true." Stan said.

"The spell that we're talking about right now... transfers his _soul_ into some_thing_ else."

Everyone fell silent. The atmosphere felt heavy, until Lily broke it. She grabbed Stan by the collar of his clothes and shook him heavily.

With tears in her eyes she said "Then w-what happened to- to his soul?! T-Tell me!"

Still being shaken roughly, Stan barely could speak "I-I-I Dooon't kn-ow." Lily let go.

_Yeah, now he'll bend to my wishes._ I thought, _I got the girl now. He won't want me to kill her._

Perfect plan. Shikotei was just standing there, probably breaking his little head on what to do now, hehe. _Little fool._

"Sora..." the voice said, now controlling my body, "what does she mean to you?" I sounded very calm.

_"He'll notice I'm not me!"_ I said to myself in my head, but the voice told me to rest assured he absolutely knew what he was doing.

"She? Nothing much: just a rag doll in my hands. A thing to bend you to my likings." He replied.

"So how will you bend me if I don't care what happens to her?" I laughed and pointed my sword at him. "Get me like you did last time, Little Sora. Come at me like you did all those years ago."

Sora's expression changed from a happy one to one of great disbelief.

"YOU?!" he shouted, "But... that's impossible!" he said, while taking a step back.

_"What did you mean by that? 'All those years ago'?"_ I said to my voice in curiosity.

_Now is not the time, kid._

"Oh, so you remember? Or do you need a refreshment; it was night at the time. Your actions were those of a cowardly dog, beaten by his owner for doing something bad." he said to Sora, who now fully knew who my voice meant.

"You got what you deserved! Just _how_ did you survive that?"

"I-" I started before being interrupted by Sora. "It doesn't matter anyway!" he shouted, running at us with two Steelies in his hands. "YOU'LL BE DEAD SOON! HAHAHAHAAA!!"

Sora threw the pieces of steel at us, but I grabbed one of them in mid-air and dodged the other one. I cast the Steely to the side and grabbed my sword with two hands again, raised it next to my head, mumbled "Oh really?" and ran towards Sora.

Blood and sweat were flying all over the place as Sora and I fought, cutting each other and blocking each other's assaults. After what felt like an eternity, both Sora and I jumped backwards, breathing heavily.

We both had several cuts and wore bloody, ragged clothes.

"Heh." Sora grinned.

_"I don't like that smile"_ I thought to the one controlling my body. _Nor do I.. he's probably found out how I can control a body and plans to undo that. Can you fight for a while? I'll explain how _you_ can win this, using the now nearly dried up blood on our sword._ He let go of my body and I felt the pain of every cut.

_How can you fight with all these cuts? They hurt like hell!_ I thought. _"I apologize for that, but it's been a while since I had something else to control."_ he said.

_You mean you're a sword? Then how did Sora kill you?_

_"He's making his move, pay attention. Now listen carefully and do as I say, okay?"_

I nodded, ignoring Sora's confused look as to why I nodded.

_Stupid sword spirit! I hate that spirit! For nearly 17 years that arrogant ghost has haunted the armory and kept challenging me. I thought I got rid of it once it got sealed away in th.. DAMNIT! The rusted sword! I gave him the rusty blade! The one with that spirit. And now that kid is fighting with it. I'll have to take them out fast._

_First, I'll aggravate him. Then that spirit will try to calm the kid down. That's when I make my move.. hehehe._

He threw his arm backwards and I heard her screaming. She started yelling at Sora again.

"Why the HELL did you do that, you arrogant bastard! Unhand me so I can kick your ass! Let me GO!"

Sora shouted back at her "It's only a scratch! Stop squealin' like a stuffed pig or I'll have you..!" and threatened to throw another one.

He then turned back to me, blaming me that her face got cut.

"WHAT?! I didn't do anything! How dare you!" I burst.

"So you _do_ care…" Sora smirked.

"Well then. Just stand still, or I _will_ cur her again. Deeper this time, _very_ deep." Sora threatened, still smirking.

_She'll die if I don't take the next hit, now what?_ I asked my voice in my head.

_"No choice, I guess. He's crazy enough to actually kill that innocent girl."_ he said, unwillingly giving up this round.

I dropped the stance, stood straight and took a deep breath. Calm entered my mind and I was ready for the pain to come.

"That's right kid, you better listen to me" the arrogant Sora said.

She, on the other hand, was surprised. "What?! You're just gonna do as he says?! HE'LL KILL YOU!" she shouted.

"Shut UP, wench! Silence her." he commanded the two men who held her. A quick hit in her neck later, her body weakened and the two dropped her on the floor with a soft thud.

"You didn't have to do that!" I shouted. _He's really pissing me off! Now I'm even more determined to kill him_ I thought. _"Calm down! Anger is not good in a fight, Sora will use that against you!"_ my voice advised quickly.

I closed my eyes and once again took a deep breath.

I didn't see Sora giving some sort of sign to his men. By the time I was about to exhale, a struck of blinding blue light filled the cave and its light went right through my eyelids. At the same time, a tremendous amount of electricity and pain zapped my body. Even before I fell to the ground, I had lost consciousness and everything went black.


	18. Time

The higher areas of the cave fell silent. A soft thud was heard and the metal clang of an old weapon falling to the ground. One man stood in the open arena below, another laid in the dust. Green crystals shimmered in the blue stone.

The man stood straight and put the metal in his hands back in the pockets they came from. He stepped forward towards the fallen opponent.

A smile started to form on his face as the distance became smaller. The smile turned into a small chuckle, growing and growing.

When the man stood before the body of his opponent, he was laughing maniacally.

"What happened next? What did Sora do when you woke up again?" asked Chris.

He and Denise were pinned to the grass as their ears were desperate to hear my continuation.

I watched Aiko as she was running around, chasing a pair of tiny Neckis that dared to get close to her.

"Say, has any of you ever remembered anything when you were a baby?" I started as I continued to follow the small Cargo. Neither answered positive. Denise asked why.

"Because until that moment, I never knew anything about my dad.." I said.

"But you _do_ know things about him!" Chris blurted out. "About how great he was, what he did and.. and how famous he was for fighting against those Smokers! You can't ignore all that."

"Yeah, but.. that's just who he was to the outside world." I sighed. "I knew nothing about him as a father, as a parent, as how he would behave towards me.. I knew not even his voice, or his face.. other than the pictures in books. Nothing."

I lay back on the grass and looked up towards the leaves of the trees, staring at the darkness.

"When that lightning thing hit me, and everything went black 'n stuff.. I remembered something of my dad.. I remembered his voice and the few words he said to me."

"Though it was just a momentary flash, it was enough for me to remember." I continued after the short silence.

"When are you gonna get to the big flashy stuff? Like when you was like when we found the place where you was fighting.." nagged Chris.

"If you're talking about the moment where Sora and I had decided to end the fight.. That wasn't really me alone." I said.

Chris looked confused at me, saying he knew what he saw and that it _was_ me.

"Yeah, well.. it was me doing that, but not just me." I countered. "I know it sounds strange, but you'll have to believe me."

"Now you have me confused as well, Shikotei. Just explain yourself, because I'm not getting any of this." Denise said as she followed the movements of her pet.

Aiko had caught one of the small Neckis and was toying with it in a way one toys with food.

"All right, all right. I'll _try_." I got up from the grass and sat upright again.

"It was really weird when I woke up again, because I wasn't on the ground or against a wall or leaning against anything." I started.

As I continued to explain what it was like for me to wake up and notice that I was standing, holding a sword _and_ fighting Sora with it, Denise and Chris couldn't believe their ears.

"I mean, how often is it that someone sleep-fights? And I wasn't even asleep!"

Chris looked at me as if something had hit my head and I was completely bonkers right now.

It was only moments after I realized my situation that I heard that man's voice in my head again. He told me that he had been moving my body since that mage attacked from behind. Even though I was unconscious, he was not.

"_I was able to surprise him and severely wounded both his legs and managed to cut his face too_." he continued. "_He's weakened enough to finish this soon, but I'm afraid your body won't take much more either._"

When I saw Sora and the condition he was in, I realized how long he must have been fighting while I was unconscious.

_So things are going to have to end real fast now, or I'll be on the short end of it all!_ I thought. _Sora's men will kill me if I can't find an exit soon.._

"_Kid, worry about that when the time is there. Right now we have other problems!_"

"Oi.. kid... yeah I know that old fart isn't holding your strings anymore." Sora started as he stood with wide legs, trying to stay upright.

His wounds on his body and on his face were taking a toll on him.

"So let's finish this! You and me, runt!" he continued as he took out a huge shuriken.

"_WATCH IT! That's the technique he inherited! It's very powerful and fast._" the 'old fart' told me.

"Heh! I'm giving you too much credit, kid, for using this technique. I killed your daddy with this beast! And you will feel its sting." Sora shouted and started to laugh.

All I could do was focus on my strength and try to ignore the many pains and wounds I sustained.

"My father was a whole lot more of a man than you'll ever be! You're just a coward. Hiding, kidnapping, stealing!"

Sora didn't take those words too good and started our final clash.

The shuriken he held, had eight spikes and was called an Avenger. It was thrown by Sora at an incredible speed, making it very hard to dodge. In fact, Sora had such skill in the huge weapon that he sometimes threw two of them in rapid succession to make it even more lethal.

I got slashes and cuts from near misses, and all the fine sand on the floor was affected by the wind those things made. Sora was using some sort of throwing technique that made those huge Avengers turn around and come back to him. He caused so much wind from the weapons that there was a dust cloud surrounding us as we resorted to close combat.

Sparks of clashing steel as bits and pieces of the old rusty weapon were chipped off gave small glows in the cloud as Sora's men were watching intensely. We both sustained incredible amounts of blows and cuts, but neither of us was going down.

Our battle had become a matter of mind over body.

Chris was all hyped up and asked me how it felt not to feel any pain from wounds. He also wanted me to get to the "final final final strike, the one with the huge flash!", but he had to wait for the answer.

"Well.. my whole body felt numb, but I could still move. So I guess back then I just didn't feel that bad at all. Just that, once the fighting was done, all that numbness fades and all the pains from the wounds give you such a shock. It's like you get all those wounds in an instant."

For a second I felt really tired and lay down on the grass again. After I put my hands behind my head to use as a pillow, I remembered something.

"Say.." I started, "What happened afterwards?"

"What do you mean, afterwards?" Denise asked as she gave me a puzzled look.

"Between the end of the fight and me ending up over here. I don't remember how we got out that cave at all."

Chris answered that, by saying that when they saw me falling over from exhaustion, the cave began shaking. Parts of the cave's ceiling came down, walls were crumbling entrances blocked, exits blocked, "so basically, the whole complex was giving in because of your attack's noise."

I was shocked to hear that what I did back then caused a whole cave complex to crumble, not to mention to cause the old Sanctuary to collapse!

"Your friends from the prison had somehow escaped and had found their way to the battle area. They came in just before the whole collapsing." Denise said. "I was pretty much useless when they carried you out."

She fidgeted as she apologized for that and said that she had put me in danger because she was there.

"That's not true! I was pretty useless myself because I couldn't stop them from using you as a way to get to me. You couldn't help it."

"You're right, but I still feel bad."

"Don't be, you no longer have anything to do with Sora."

It was Chris who broke the silence.

"You explained where the flying dust came from and the flashes I saw when you were fighting, but what was that final flash? The one where all those light beams come out.. how did you do that?"

He had forgotten his wounded arm for a tad bit too long as he grunted and grabbed for it when he made a rash movement.

"Now that I think about it, how did you get that arm so battered, Chris?" I asked as I heard his pain.

"We got rockfall from the collapse, and Chris was hurt during our escape run. It was pretty scary, running for my life like that." Denise explained as she looked after Aiko.

It made things a bit clearer, and she also filled me in on the events after the collapse.

"When we got out of the Sanctuary, we were awaited by a group of people that had been summoned to battle the Smokers because your group never arrived at the place you were going to. Since you vanished, they figured you'd been captured or otherwise held by them. They had given us a quick patch-up and then took us all the way to the surface." she continued.

"By the way, Shik, what's so special about the rusty sword you have?" Chris asked. "You kept holding it even when you were unconscious."

"Yeah, it's a piece of crap sword you got from piece of crap Sora.. why keep it?"

_Now that they mention it.. where is that thing? And what does Chris mean with light beams coming from where Sora and I fought?_

All I told them before standing up and heading for the Hotel was that the sword was special and held answers. Ofcourse now they both gave me the 'he hit his head hard'-look. And of course I didn't notice that.

Shikotei came walking in the room right after Stan had been released from my shaking grip. I was sitting down on the bench once again, but had an expression far from calm. My son noticed almost immediately, asking what had happened that his mother would be in such a state.

Stan couldn't bring the same news twice, so he just said that they had unexpected results from research.

"What kind of research would do this to my mom?" he shouted as he held me and asked the same question.

I, however, felt that after the events her son had experienced, especially with regard to the Smokers, I found him ready to know. Know about his father. I started with the research Servatius had been doing. Research about passing on his powers and reading such information from ancient books. Silly really, when you think about it now.. Grendell had helped greatly by supplying the information and helping him decipher the scribbly texts.

He was also helping me now explaining this to Shikotei. The two of us filled my boy in on his father's life unknown to many.

Young as Shikotei was, he didn't see the link between the research and now. Soon he would be though as I told the news Stan had only moments ago.

"One question.. and this may just be linked with the subject. Where's my sword? The one I used to fight Sora?" he asked.

Korban stood up to get it and while he was away, Shikotei said he wanted to show everyone something.

Explaining things to Shik had given me time to regain most of my normal self when Korban had returned with the rusty blade.

As soon as my son had received it, he closed his eyes and gripped the sword firmly. Thoughts passed about the sword, and the thoughts of the boy and what he wanted to show us. After what seemed longer than it really was, Shikotei spoke. But it wasn't his voice somehow. Something had happened between receiving that rusty blade and the current moment.

"Hey Lily.. time has been good to you." Shikotei said with his new voice. It was deeper than normal, but didn't sound any different apart from that. It was still soft and kind toned.

_It may not be Shik's normal voice, but.. it sounds so familiar.. just like_ his_ voice._

"Don't tell me you forgot me? This kid's been fighting for you and you forget me?" he continued, "I'm kind of hurt now.."

I didn't know what to think anymore, so I spouted the question anyone in my position would have used.

"Wh.. Who are you?"

"Ouch.. could have expected that though.. with this form." he put his hand to his chin, as if thinking.

"How's this? You ask me a question only one other person could know the answer to, OR! I tell you something only one other person could know." the low voice offered. The deal sounded genuine enough to let me decide who this person could be.

I had to think long of the one question I was going to ask the person apparently possessing my son. Although there were only a few things that only one other person could know about, most of them were too embarrassing to ask.

"How did you ask me out the second time? Do both sides, or it won't count." I said with determination.

_If he isn't able to understand the additional condition, it's obvious who this person is._

"What? But.. that's kinda embarrassing!" he said and showed a desperate look on his face.

_That's why I asked this. It's that way for you, not for me, but if you answer..._ I thought and only gave him the scolding look.

"You're mean." he said and turned around. "You're mean and you haven't been nice at all. You constantly play tricks with me, make me a fool in front of everyone."

"As if I should care about the dumbest boy in our class! Why do you keep following me? I already said no to you, so get lost." he continued, but with a make-shift female voice.

_I shouldn't laugh, I shouldn't laugh, I shouldn't laugh_ I kept thinking. It looked really funny with him posing as me and trying to make my voice.

"What? That didn't count!" he said as he pouted and then crossed his arms. Using 'my' voice, he said that he should see the stupid look on his face.

"Heh, I bet you were just scared, you chickened out because of what your friends would've thought of you! You're just a sad scared little kitten who won't even be honest with herself." the person said with his 'own' low voice. He then continued with my voice.

"You wish!" his voice went a bit too high and almost cause me to lose my control over not laughing.

"I bet you wouldn't even _dare_ coming to the Old Cherry even if I asked you! You would just send one of your friends to make fun of me again, like you always did!"

"Like I'd go out on such a dumb date with a dumb idiot like you!" his female voice yelled. It was hilarious to see and I felt nostalgic to hear it again. He fell silent for a minute.

_He forgot something.._ I thought. I hadn't even thought that when he continued.

"Fine! Then _don't_ come. I was stupid for even asking. Bye." and with that, he stamped with his feet as he walked out the door.

A few seconds later, his head popped around the corner to see the results of his 'performance'.

It was pretty clear that everyone but me was stupefied by the answer to my question. They had just been sitting there and staring at Shikotei's performance. They had no idea what was going on, or why this had happened. I'm glad that the Wisemen said nothing and did nothing. Even now, they were simply observing.

Me.. I enjoyed it. Took me back years. Many years. It had to be him.

Until that moment, I hadn't noticed that Christopher and Denise had been standing in the other doorway, seeing and hearing was had been happening.


	19. Spirit Of The Sword

"So? Remember now?" I said with an unusually low voice. Shikotei had the attention of all the people present: his friends, his mother, the friends of his friends and even the four Wisemen consisting of Athena, Kerin, Grendell and Dances.

It was me, however that they were all wondering about. Thanks to the fight with Sora, I completely found my way of controlling him. _As long as he holds the sword, I can use his body._

Denise broke the silence that had followed by asking the same question as Lily had done earlier. This time, however, it was Lily who answered.

I suddenly found myself hugged by Lily.

"That.. was not expected." I said as I looked suprised at the girl of my dreams.

"You haven't changed a bit.. Albert!" she said. "You always were good at impersonations."

"Uhh.. Albert? Who's Albert?" Athena asked as she couldn't remember any Albert in her profession.

I wanted to explain, but Lily beat me to it. _Just like_ he_ beat me to her.. why man?_

She said that I was one of the best pals of her husband and that I used to have an eye for her. _Still have, but being a sword 'n all won't help at all._

"And he was part of my husband's group. I won't explain what he just did, so no questions about that!" she finished.

_Strong willed as ever. Damn, why did Serv have to win her and then lose everything?_

"Anyway!" I said loudly so I would get attention from all of 'em. "I'm Albert. I've been a sword for the past dozen years, so I think you guys can fill me in on the present situation."

"Ah.. so Serv managed to pull it off then?" I said and nodded. "I understand. I guess I got picked by chance."

"Hey, kid. You still listening?" I said to Shikotei.

"Yeah. I think there's only one question I have left for you.. and I know you know what I want to know." the kid said back.

It must've looked really weird, hearing two different voices coming from one person. To top it all, he's talking to himself!

"The glowing in the dust cloud I'm sure Alexander spoke about." I started. "The same light beams Shikotei talked about."

Korban looked anxious to know the nature of the light, while Chris could barely sit still knowing he'd be getting the answer to his burning question.

"I know you want the answer as to what the nature of those lights was. Even Shikotei wants to know as he had lost consciousness at the split second moment before it happened. It's because he lost that, that those lights appeared." I continued. They were hanging on my lips. _guess I still love theatrics.._

"Stan, the research your party did.. was incomplete to say the least. How can anyone remember the last words someone said in the middle of the night in chaotic moments? How can you even perform research without having asked her before?"

Stan pointed towards other research, related to what Servatius had done and that they had based their conclusions on that.

"Serv's spell was definitely not so sophisticated. He wasn't a mage, nor educated in magic. I know, because _I am_ educated in magic. The spell he used borrowed the magic capabilities of another caster. In a nutshell, Serv used my powers to enhance those of another person. One not selectable by thought, but by feelings."

I paused for a second to let the idea sink in.

"Shikotei was lucky enough not to get my fate, and he was lucky enough to get the beneficial half of the spell. My spirit is free to roam from object to object. I was just screwed because I spent years stuck in a blade stolen by Sora's goons after my disappearance. Swords rust, and nobody uses rusty swords, so you get the idea."

"Until Sora found it funny to give me that old sword." Shikotei said.

"Yes, but enough about my half of the spell. You got the better half, at least in my opinion you did." I continued again.

"As I said before, you got your powers enhanced. I'm uncertain about the conditions required, but apparently you met them during the fight."

After a short silence, the kid still wanted to know what exactly happened the second the powers activated.

I explained the things I saw back then.

"The sword you held became like new. It was made of gold and I could feel magic flowing through it, so the golden blade must have been very powerful. I've already thought up a fitting name for it: Hero's Gladius!"

"Eh?" some people exclaimed while showing a strange face.

"Yeah! Because you're like a hero now, and it was originally a Gladius anyway.. so.. hahaha!"

"So the beams of light came from the sword turning into gold?" asked Chris. He was spot on right.

I finished by saying that Sora won't be bothering this world anymore.

"I wonder what happened to my body though.. and what I'm gonna do now. How do I continue?" I started to think _Here's that philosophizing side of me again.._

"Well..Albert." Shikotei started, "I wouldn't mind having another friend on my next adventure.. I owe you for helping me out!"

Things turned into a half monologue, half conversation between me and the kid. He felt he had to give me at least something until Grendell figured out how to give me a more permanent body. I was grateful to know such a great kid and was, once again, jealous of Servatius. He always got the bigger end of the stick.

In the end though, I accepted his offer.

"But only until I've got my own body back. Or at least a body for myself. I don't plan on being a viral existence til the end of ages!"

Things settled down afterwards. The sun had set, the press was gone and silence was once again overwhelming the Hotel area. Only a few adventurers entered the Sleepy Hotel for the night, but none were much more interested than to get a good night's rest before setting off to the deep tunnels beyond the cave entrance.

In the days that followed what was now known as the 'Smokers Incident', some people who had been kept imprisoned by Sora's men had returned home. Some of them returned to their families, others to friends, others returned to their old lives. But all of them had changed. All of them had gained friendships and knew a kid with extraordinary strength, especially for his age. The kid, known as Servatius' kid, or by his name, Shikotei, had once again taken up the sword and adventures were waiting for him.

Grendell never found a way to undo the effect of the spell placed upon Albert. By the time Grendell had come to this conclusion, Shikotei was nowhere to be found. It was not until a year after that the boy came in touch with Grendell. It was too late then to help Albert. What became of him is unknown. When one would ask Shikotei, who had held the blade for a long time, he would simply answer that the best friend of his father was now a truly free spirit. Sometime in the future, people would occasionally mention a talking sword, but that never got any further than an urban myth. Shikotei also never found out how to use the power he used to slay his father's assassin. He thought it must have been a one-time use only, so it didn't really bother him.

Chris went a separate path after spending half a year in training for Cleric. He said something along the lines of "being a cleric is a seriously responsible job. I must have some time to accustom myself to it." It was the result of time that had changed him from an impulsive young boy to a grown man.

Denise crossed paths with Shikotei unusually often, but never intertwined her fate with the man he became. Whispers among her friends said that she secretly loved him, but still never dared to go out with boys. You could say that Sora had left his mark on the young girl she was back then, giving her a trauma.

Shikotei continued his adventures, of which some will be told in later stories. He eventually found himself far beyond the boundaries of small Victoria Island. He had visited places as far as the Temple of Time; even saw the fires of Horntail. His stories were to be told by friends and his guild. But that's not this story. This one has ended.


End file.
